Tag: 2022

The Year the Film Was Released

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Movie Review

A Violent Man (2022) Movie Review ‘Thought Provoking Thriller’

A Violent Man – Thought Provoking Thriller

A Violent Man Poster

 

Director: Ross McCall

Writer: Ross McCall (Screenplay)

Starring: Craig Fairbrass, Stephen Odubola, Jason Flemyng, Ross McCall, Ulrich Thomsen, Zoe Tapper, Robin Laing

Plot: Steve Mackleson is a dangerous prisoner, incarcerated for double murder in a maximum security prison. We follow, as he navigates his struggle against redemption the system and his inner turmoil, when a young black gang member becomes his unlikely new cell mate and a daughter he has never met, finally requests to meet her estranged father. Face to face.

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: A Violent Man starts when dangerous prisoner Steve Mackelson (Fairbrass) gets a new cellmate in young gang member Marcus Wainwright (Odubola). Steve offers to give Marcus the advice to survive the prison environment, something he does take on.

As Marcus position in his gang forces him into trouble. Steve takes him under his wing protecting him from the different gangs within the walls. While getting the chance to meet his daughter for the first time since he ended up in prison.

Thoughts on A Violent Man

Characters & Performances

Steve Mackelson is the violent criminal, living with the consequences of the crime he committed. Feared within the prison walls, where the higher up criminals come to him with respect. Steve is getting a chance to see his daughter for the first time in years. Since the crime he committed, but he isn’t sure it would be a good idea. While he is offering advice to a young gangster stuck in prison, without any friends to back him up. Craig Fairbrass handles the violent side of the film with ease. Where he is always an intimidating figure, but we will see the serious side of his performance here too. Showing a different side to his acting level.

Marcus is the young gang member thrown in prison, forced to continue his operating in the prison walls. Put in a cell with Steve, who sees a lot of his younger self about him. Marcus is left unprotected in prison. Until Steve comes along, offering to give him the advice to survive. Stephen Odubola is great in the supporting role, showing the fear his character hides beneath.

When it comes to the supporting cast, we meet the different people that want to deal with Steve or are out to get Marcus. Most of these characters offer the decision that Steve will need to make for his own future.

Story

A Violent Man will see us meet the seasoned prisoner that is respected by the fellow inmates. Taking new young prisoner under his wing to teach him how to survive the walls. While dealing with the fact he will need to face his daughter for the first time since he committed the crime.

This is a very different look at the prison life, showing the violent side of needing to survive. Keeping the story circled around the regret of the actions and fear of doing it again. Along with a mentoring story that will offer the importance to pass on how to survive the prison walls. It will show people from different backgrounds needing to work together. Teaching each other how to get on to the right path in life, instead of making the same mistakes again.

Themes

A Violent Man is a thriller that will give us a reflective look at life from the violent prisoner. One that will show that people can be broken after committing crimes, not knowing why they can’t control themselves. The film will keep the locations simple, the prison cell is used for nearly ever scene. Showing an even more tight compact environment that Steve finds himself living in, putting the bigger spotlight on the fact you would never want to go to prison.

Final Thoughts – A Violent Man is a thriller with plenty to think about, highlight the problems criminals have caused and faced.

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Movie Review

Confession (2022) Movie Review

Confession: A Vengeful Tale of Redemption

Confession: A Vengeful Tale of Redemption

Director: David Beton

Writer: David Beton (Screenplay)

Starring: Colm Meaney, Stephen Moyer, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Kris Johnson, Sadie Jean Shirley

Plot: One church, one priest, a wounded man and his loaded gun. An intense thriller played out in real time during one night where a vengeful confession must take place.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Confession starts when an injured man Victor Strong (Moyer) arrives in a church to confess his sins to a Priest and Father Peter (Meaney). Getting the doors locked, the pair start the story, with the former partner Willow (Ashitey) lurking in the shadows.

As the three collide, the truth about each of them will be revealed, showing they all have something to hide and live with pain in their lives.

Thoughts on Confession

Thoughts – Confession is drama thriller that will see how three people will come together in a church to finally let the truth out, which will give us a story that is filled with twists and turns along the way. This is an interesting look at people wanting to give away their truths, while having a gritty cop like drama going on within it.

It shows people may live with regrets, which they will always find themselves struggling to adapt too. The performances from the three leads are great, making themselves come off as an engaging style, while keeping everything within the walls of the church. This might not be everything you are expecting, as it is a film that is focused more on the discussions going on with everything.

Final Thoughts – Confession is an interesting discussion-based film, around mistakes we can make.

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Movie Review

Wake (2022) Short Movie Review

Wake is a short movie directed by Martin Klapperbein, written by Liam Higgins that will follow one man’s (Michael Wamara) journey through grief of losing his wife and soon-to-be daughter. The man will journey through the destruction created in his life, as he searches for answers, becoming the metaphor for mental health of the struggle, he simple doesn’t know how to express.

Wake is a story that will put the importance on men’s mental health that they don’t always want to address, or even know how to, in fear of the toxic masculinity created within the world. Wake, is attempting to prove the dark journey men can go through, alone, constantly proving that people can reach out, be there for anyone who needs them in life.

Wake could easily be used as an advert to put a bright spotlight on what is going on in the heads of people who suffer loss. Wake could also be an extended film, examining more of the pain he went through, showing the help he could get, if he asked for the help.

Wake is a film that will make you pause everything for the seven-minute runtime, ask yourself the bigger question about whether you could ask for help, whether you could be there for someone who needs help, or pick up on the signs when someone close to you is struggle. Important and must watch for the awareness created, needed to be discussed.

Wake is a must watch short film, easily one of most important of the year.

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Movie Review

Evil at the Door (2022) Movie Review ‘A Purge Wannabe

Evil at the Door – A Purge Wannabe

 

Director: Kipp Tribble

Writer: Kipp Tribble (Screenplay)

Starring: Bruce Davison, John James, Andrea Sweeney Blanco, Richard Siegelman, Matt O’Neill, Robert Allen Mukes, Scott Hamm, Sunny Doench, Kipp Tribble, Kenny Yates

Plot: One night every year the world sees an alarming surge in violent home invasions. This is no coincidence.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Evil at the Door starts as Liz (Blanco) turns to her sister jess (Doench) for help after her life has fallen out of line again, staying with Jess and her husband Daniel (O’Neill) who isn’t happy to have her back in his home.

As the three look to go about their night, they find themselves targeted by a group of masked home invaders who have plans to commit horrific actions, as the tradition of this night, every year.

Thoughts on Evil at the Door

Thoughts – Evil at the Door is a horror film that will channel the Purge, with the idea that a group will commit violent crimes on a set day, while not on the big scale of the Purge movies, we dive into a secret society involved with it. How this unfolds, starts well, but then it seems to get stuck in the middle of nowhere, with a middle part of the film, where next to nothing seems to happen, while trying to build upon the group and their beliefs. Evil at the Door does sadly, fall into the type of film that wants to bring an edge to the story, only leaving everything we see feeling flat, only leaving the questions of, what was the point in one major plot point for the whole film. When it comes to the performances, we have Bruce Davison as the biggest name in the film, with his role literally being him sat at his desk reading a script into a camera, filling the role of the leader of the group, giving instructions. It does feel like we are going to get some depth in the performances from Andrea Sweeney Blanco and Sunny Doench with the introduction, which does soon get forgotten once the invasion happens.

Final Thoughts – Evil at the Door wants to world build, forgetting to dive deeper enough into its own story.

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Movie Review

The Surprise Visit (2022) Movie Review ‘Not Enough Suspense’

The Surprise Visit – Not Enough Suspense

 

Director: Nick Lyon

Writer: Stephen Meier (Screenplay) Nathan Cowles, Serah Henesey (Story)

Starring: Eric Roberts, Serah Henesey, Rob Riordan, Johnny Santiago, Jacqu Vene, Tricia Hawn

Plot: A robbery goes wrong, leaving two young drug addicts to make a difficult decision: to give up, or to do the unthinkable.

Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Surprise Visit starts when drug addicts Casey (Riordan) and Annabelle (Vene) learn they are expecting a baby, with Casey turning to his father Hugh (Roberts) for help, searching for a chance of a job working for his boss Mrs Dixon (Hawn).

Casey decides to talk Annabelle into breaking into the house while Mrs Dixon is away, only he is unaware that her daughter Juliette (Henesey) and husband Daniel (Santiago) have made a surprise visit.

Thoughts on The Surprise Visit

Characters & Performances – Casey is the drug addict man who learns he is about to become a father, he needs drugs to function, despite trying to get his father to give him a new life. He is the one that comes up with the idea to rob his father’s boss in an attempt to get his girlfriend a new life. Casey is very difficult to support, where he will always push Annabelle into doing what he thinks is best, no matter what. Annabelle is the pregnant girlfriend of Casey’s, she wants to get off the drugs for their child, constantly pushing but being left disappointed by Casey, who controls her every decision in life. She is always insulted by him, never given the space to think for herself. Juliette and Daniel are the couple who are visiting the home, that find themselves coming under attack from the intruders, needing to think of a way out, trying to show the pair the error of their ways. This isn’t a film that is going to get the praise for the performances, as nobody seems to feel like they are committed to the roles involved, with more about screaming at each other being the main part of the film.

Story – The Surprise Visit follows a couple of drug addicts that break into a home in an attempt to get rich quick, only not everything goes to plan, as the home isn’t as empty as they first thought. This story will seem to focus more on the chase, rather than getting any suspense in what is unfolding. It is has the toxic relationship between Casey and Annabelle not getting addressed on the firmer level, which is difficult to watch, as we can all see how badly Casey is treating her. The story will feel flatter by the end, with an unsatisfying ending, which does feel like we could have wrapped things up a lot quicker.

Themes – The Surprise Visit is a thriller that doesn’t seem to hit the tension or suspense it wants to, as most of the film is just the characters running around the woods, which the isolated location does create. The location is key to everything we see, with the luxury home being the reason why the thieves target the home.

Final Thoughts – The Surprise Visit is a tensionless thriller, never building up the suspense it could.

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Movie Review

Scream (2022) Movie Review ‘Blood Soaked Sequel’

Scream – Blood Soaked Sequel

 

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Writer: James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick (Screenplay)

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Marley Shelton, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Jack Quaid

Plot: Twenty-five years after the original series of murders in Woodsboro, a new killer emerges, and Sidney Prescott must return to uncover the truth.


Tagline – It’s Always Someone You Know

Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Scream starts when a new group of school students Tara (Ortega), Wes (Minnette), Mindy (Brown), Liv (Ammar), Amber (Madison) and Chad (Gooding) find themselves getting targeted by a new Ghostface killer. Tara’s sister Sam (Barrera) returns from her time away, as the killer continues to attack.

With the attacks increasing, Dewey (Arquette) reluctantly looks to help, drawing Gail Weathers (Cox) and Sidney (Campbell) back to Woodsboro to face the new killer.

Thoughts on Scream

Characters & Performances – This is going to be slightly different to how I usually break down the characters, as I will look at the originals, or legacy characters in Sidney who has moved away from the area, started her own life, at last. She does return to offer help, much like Gail Weathers, they are both drawn back, we know how strong they are and how they will always fight. Dewey does have the more interesting story of the three. Dewey has become an outsider, still suffering from the injuries he got from the last out, almost a recluse within the town he protected. Bringing the big three back was always the draw, with all three doing a great job throughout.

Onto the new characters, Sam Carpenter takes the leading role, drawn back to Woodsboro after Tara’s attack, she is holding a secret that has kept her away, while trying to get to the bottom of everything that has been happening. This is where we get the connection side of things, Wes is the son of Judy Hicks, the plucky sheriff from the last film, Mindy and Chad are twins that fill in Mindy’s side of things, the expert in horror, while Chad is the not so typical jock figure, that we have seen constantly twisted through the years. Liv is a girlfriend of Chad’s who does seem like more of the outsider of the friends, while Amber is the one wanting to keep everyone together through the incidents. When it comes to these characters, we do get a generational thing, which seems more focused on bragging about not caring and even wanting to be involved in what happens with the killings, they don’t tend to get enough development about them. It is hard to see any of the new cast standing out on the same levels as the originals, which is more to certain lack of screen time given to the ones we could see more from.

Story – Scream will bring the action back to Woodsboro once again, with a new Ghostface killer looking to pick off a group of friends, bringing the originals back to face a new killer with an unknown motivation. Scream will bring the teenage characters into the new generations of young people who think they are above being horror victims and believe their own opinions are more important than anyone else’s, forcing them to show how they are becoming tired with decisions in movies, while being reckless in life. Like seriously, why would people have wild parties if their friends had been murdered by a known serial killer. Much like any Scream sequel, we do get a theme in the story, where we have had the sequel, trilogy, reboot before, we are now getting re-quell, a new term for a reboot and sequel trying to please fans. There is a side to the story, which is going to be interesting to see if the franchise will continue to grow on, as it is one that could take things in many different directions. We will have certain things said, that will have you scratching your head, as it seems to be written into the script that we know what happens in the Stab movies, which we don’t, even ignore mentions in previous films too.

Themes – Scream is a horror slasher that will bring plenty of blood and gore to the table, not holding back and seemingly bring the directors trademark of the hand injury to life again. Returning the action to Woodsboro helps, showing us how the town has looked to move on again, but will always be under the shadow of the previous attacks. The use of one key location does bring back the memories of the brilliance of the original.

Final Thoughts – Scream is a great addition to the franchise, bringing new-life for a new generation.

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Movie Review

Bae Wolf (2022) Movie Review ‘Fun Spin on a Fantasy Legend’

Bae Wolf – Fun Spin on a Fantasy Legend

 

Director: David Axe

Writer: David Axe (Screenplay) Darien Cavanaugh (Story)

Starring: Morgan Shaley Renew, Jennifer Hill, Aaron Blomberg, Josh Kern, Katie Langdale, Rachel Petsiavas

Plot: In the year 500 A.D., a jealous, decapitating monster terrorizes the drunken revelers of Heorot. A fearless princess goes in search of a hero who can save her people. But that hero guards a secret more dangerous than any monster.


Tagline – It takes a monster to fight a monster.

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Bae Wolf starts when a fearless princess Freawaru (Renew) goes in search for help for her town’s monster problem, a Grendel (Kern), who has been killing the residents before walking away like nothing has happened.

As Freawaru searches for help, she meets Beowulf (Hill) and her men that have been fighting monsters roaming the land, using the stories behind them, as a way to get into village, not being prepared for what Grendel is to the village.

Thoughts on Bae Wolf

Thoughts – Bae Wolf is a fantasy movie that will look to bring a different spin on the Beowulf legend, one that we have seen put to the bring screen a couple of times already in recent years, this time bringing a more grounded reality to everything going on within the world. Bae Wolf will bring us new visions of the character involved in the Grendel story, needing to find a way to win the battle, while not being afraid story and turn the legend into a mix of human involvement behind the legends. Bae Wolf is a film that is happy to embrace the B-Movie levels of the film, not taking too much serious, which might well hold things back, but then it also adds in an extra lighter side to everything we see.

Final Thoughts – Bae Wolf is a fun low budget fantasy, accepting the stories in a new light.

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Movie Review

The Lost Treasure (2022) Movie Review ‘Fun Adventure Film’

The Lost Treasure – Fun Adventure Film

Director: Stella Tinucci

Writer: Stella Tinucci (Screenplay)

Starring: Josh Margulies, Angelica Quinn, Dezmond Gilla, Stella Tinucci, Terry Bookhart, Kava Jones

Plot: Eddie Fox, a hustling treasure hunter, finds himself forced to embark on a journey into the jungle to prevent a power hungry egomaniac from finding an ancient weapon that could destroy the island.

Runtime: 1 Hour 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Lost Treasure starts as Eddie Fox (Margulies) a famed treasure hunter located on a small jungle island, where he finds himself needing to work with his newly found team of Tanya (Tinucci) and Maleko (Roehl) as they must stop Charles Wellington (Gilla) and his hench people, Leilani (Bookhart) and Kainoa (Jones) who are after an ancient weapon.

As Eddie learns more about the stakes that will come from Charles getting possession of the weapon, he must use his connection to the island to save the island.

Thoughts on The Lost Treasure

Characters & Performances – Eddie Fox is the treasure hunter on a small island, he has always found a way to locate the treasure and built connections on the island and now he finds himself in the middle of one of the biggest hunts of his career, against a man who wants power, rather than discovery. Eddie as a character does feel like they could have their series of films, with different adventures in each story. Josh Margulies gives us a fun character, one that remains calm and puts the treasure hunting ahead of the conflict abilities. Charles Wellington is the eccentric man that will do anything to get the item, using money to get what he wants, and if that is refused, he will use manipulation or force. Dezmond Gilla makes for an entertaining villain, one that will be the figure you want to see what he will do next. In the supporting characters we have the plucky Tanya, working with Eddie, along with his long term partner in crime Maleko, while Charles is helped by the imposing figure of Kainoa and the fiery Leilani.

Story – The story here follows a treasure hunter that must stop an eccentric man from uncovering a powerful ancient weapon which could be used for evil, while understanding more about his ancestor’s involvement in keeping it safe. This is a story that could easily be seen as an introduction to the character of Eddie Fox, with the idea that he will or has many more adventures to have or to tell. This one does feel like a routine story, but one that is easy to watch and enjoy the ride with the characters involved.

Themes – The Lost Treasure is an adventure movie that focuses on the treasure hunting ways of Eddie Fox, as his small jungle island becomes the key location for a missing artefact. Everywhere we are taken, is what we expect to see in a treasure hunting movie.

Final Thoughts – The Lost Treasure is an enjoyable and easy to watch adventure movie.

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Movie Review

The Tortured Soul (2022) Short Movie Review ‘Brimming Thriller’

The Tortured Soul – Brimming Thriller

 

Director: Andrew de Burgh

Writer: Andrew de Burgh (Screenplay)

Starring: Bianca Stam, Nicholas Sidley

Plot: A young woman confronts the serial killer that murdered her husband.

Runtime: 9 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Tortured Soul starts as Tamara Nolan (Stam) sits facing a man covered in a bloodied bag, before she reveals the story to why we are in this position. She has hunted down this man, a serial killer, waiting to face them for taking her loved one, changing her life forever.

Thoughts on The Tortured Soul

Thoughts – The Tortured Soul brings us what feels like is becoming a trademark for director Andrew de Burgh, putting us into a discussion, where somebody is suffering from an emotional change in their lives, that this conversation will see things change, without needing to rely on any sort of action sequence. Bianca Stam does keep her delivery calm, prepared and determined, with a sense of relief coming through each word and finally getting to unload her characters grief on the killer. The way I like to look at shorts, has always been whether the story could be expanded and with this story, we have certain lines that imply we could go a lot deeper into the hunt for the killer. This is another excellent entry into the filmography of Andrew de Burgh, where he will continue to bring his unique idea on how to keep the story simple, but compelling.

Final Thoughts – The Tortured Soul is a compelling vision of revenge.