Jul 27 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Comedy – # – Ten Thousand Saints (2015) Movie Thoughts

Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini

Writer: Robert Pulchini, Shari Springer Berman (Screenplay) Eleanor Henderson (Novel)

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Emile Hirsch

Plot: Set in the 1980s, a teenager from Vermont moves to New York City to live with his father in East Village.

Tagline – Rage. Riot. Rebirth.

Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Ten Thousand Saints starts as we meet a couple of stoners Jude (Butterfield) and Teddy (Jogia) living in Vermont, spending their time just looking for their next high all the time, they get visited by a family friend in Eliza (Steinfeld), which sees the party get out of control, with Teddy passing away.

Jude’s drug dealing father Les (Hawke) returns to his life to take him to New York City to starts fresh, where he meets Teddy’s brother Johnny (Hirsch) who ends up teaching both Jude and Eliza about taking things more seriously after his own problems with drugs in the past.

Thoughts on Ten Thousand Saints

Final Thoughts – Ten Thousand Saints follows an adopted young teenager that sees his life turned upside down when his best friend dies in a night of drink and drugs, which will see his estranged drug dealing father return to his life to offer him a new start, getting caught up in the middle of discovering who he is and learning how to get through an unexpected pregnancy. This story does go in a strange direction, seemingly trying to become more about the pregnancy storyline, over the self-discovery one that is being pushed for from the Jude character. The performances in the film are strong with Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld are always going to work well in these aged roles. The supporting cast work well too, with Ethan Hawke, Emile Hirsch, Emily Mortimer and Julianne Nicholson. The movie does seem to focus more on trying to warn about teenage pregnancy and advertise the adoption can help a baby have a strong start in life.

Jul 26 2021

The True Don Quixote (2019) Movie Review

The True Don Quixote – Quirky

Director: Chris Poche

Writer: Chris Poche (Screenplay) Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra (Novel)

Starring: Tim Blake Nelson, Jacob Batalon, Ann Mahoney, Morgan Roberts, Brandon Stacy, Lucy Faust

Plot: Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) is a man who’s safe and comfortable and bored to death with his life. In his state of despair, he looks to classic stories for inspiration. Awakened by the tales of yore, he anoints himself as Don Quixote to find adventure, fame and glory that will make his life worthwhile – all while never leaving his one-mile square neighborhood.

Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The True Don Quixote starts when mild-mannered man who sees everything he loves taken away, which will see him have a break while reading believing he is in fact the real Don Quixote (Nelson) who roams his neighbourhood looking for a squire in Sancho Panza (Batalon) as the pair get caught up in the middle of misadventures.

Thoughts on The True Don Quixote

Thoughts – The True Don Quixote is a quirky comedy drama about a man that is broken in life, turning to a fictional figure to help him through the events filled with the denial of what this is doing to him. The story does turn the different stories of the legendary Don Quixote into the modern world, one that could be everyday life situations. The reality of this story does show how people will be let go down a road that seems unstable, which will also show how some people will come to help them. Tim Blake Nelson does fully commit to this role, which is the highlight of the film, despite the fact it is over the top as it is intended to be. The weakness in the film does come from not knowing anything from the real Don Quixote and the stories the figure might well have been through.

Signature Entertainment presents The True Don Quixote on Digital Platforms 2nd August

Final Thoughts – The True Don Quixote is an extremely quirky movie.

Jul 25 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Comedy – Y – You Can’t Say No (2018) Movie Review

Director: Paul Kramer

Writer: Hus Miller (Screenplay)

Starring: Hus Miller, Hamish Linklater, Marguerite Moreau, Peter Fonda, Julie Carman, William Shockley, Annie Monroe, Christopher Redman

Plot: Just days from signing divorce papers, Hank and Alexandra give their relationship one final shot by playing a game with only one rule: no matter what they ask each other to do, they can’t say no.

Tagline – There is only one rule.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: You Can’t Say No starts as Hank (Miller) and Alex (Moreau) are finalising their divorce papers when they agree to try one last thing, a game where the other person can’t say no, leading them to do the things they never imagined trying together, learning they are closer than they thought, but can this save their marriage once and fall all or will it be the end of their time together.

Thoughts on You Can’t Say No

Thoughts – You Can’t Say No follows the couple about to go through their divorce before they try one more thing to see if it is the right decision, a game where they simply can’t say no to anything the other wants to try, leading to them moving outside their comfort zones and putting them in a better position to know what they want in the future. This story does show what people would do to try and make a marriage work out before deciding to call it quits, while certain things might well be completely outside the box, certain ones do feel like a natural move to make. The acting in the film is strong enough for the comedy to work even with a role Peter Fonda looks out of place for with his reputation. One of the disappointing parts of the film does come from seeing the children almost pushed out of the film for large part even though they could have used one part as a bigger talking point.

Final Thoughts – You Can’t Say No is an easy to watch comedy about love and what it makes people do.

Jul 24 2021

Caddyshack (1980) Movie Review

Director: Harold Ramis

Writer: Brian Doyle-Murray, Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney (Screenplay)

Starring: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O’Keefe, Bill Murray, Sarah Holcomb, Scott Colomby, Cindy Morgan

Plot: An exclusive golf course has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive dancing gopher.

Tagline – Playing A Round Of Golf At The Bushwood Club Isn’t Just Confined To The Golf Course!

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Dated 80s Comedy

Story: Caddyshack starts as young golf caddy Danny (O’Keefe) who has been trying to figure out what to do with his future, he turns to the players at the golf club, Ty Webb (Chase), Al Czervik (Dangerfield) and Judge Smails (Knight) for advice, with the club is dealing with a gopher problem, Carl Spackler (Murray) looks to solve this problem.

With Al bringing his louder approach to the game, he starts to ruffle the feathers of the other players, while Judge Smails, wants to face Webb in a one on one match.

Thoughts on Caddyshack

Characters – Danny Noonan is a young caddy, who would like to find his place in life, looking to get enough money for his studying, he is trying to get closer to the players to learn about new ideas, while learning the first thing about love. Ty Webb is known as the best golfer at the club, he keepers himself to himself and offers the advice to Danny along the way. Al Czervik is the newest and loudest member of the club, he will bet on anything, he doesn’t play by the rules and isn’t afraid to make himself the most important person in the room. Judge Smails is the typical club member, he plays by the rules, he demands respect and only cares about his time on the course. Carl Spackler is the groundskeeper of the course, who spends the time of the film trying to hunt down a gopher that is destroying the course.

Performances – The performances rely on Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield, trying to bring a routine to comedy, which can often be the problem with comedy, it isn’t always acting, it is more about trying tog et the most jokes in the film.

Story – The story follows a golf course dealing with a caddy trying to find his place in the world, an old time member not liking a new loud member and a groundskeeper trying to capture a gopher which could ruin the course. While the story do interweave nicely, they just do seem to fail to capture the true meaning of what certain characters are trying to achieve, the rivalry one does work best, while the gopher hunting is more slapstick than anything else, while the caddy trying to find his place in the world, sees to just fall on the back seat of the film.

Comedy/Sports – The comedy in the film does feel incredibly dated, while the sports side of the film can be used for a few laughs, with the different people that come from the golf clubs.

Settings – The film is set in and around the golf course, it shows us the different people we will get on with their days, be it the rich members of the young caddies enjoying life.

Scene of the Movie – Rain golf.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Ty seems to be one of the most confusing characters in the whole film, treated like the pro expert, while playing for laughs in a different style.

Final Thoughts – This is a comedy that doesn’t seem to have dated in the way others have from the past, falling flat more than anything else by the end.

Overall: Flat Comedy.

Jul 24 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Comedy – X – Pixie (2020) Movie Review

Director: Barnaby Thompson

Writer: Preston Thompson (Screenplay)

Starring: Olivia Cooke, Ben Hardy, Daryl McCormack, Chris Walley, Colm Meaney, Alec Baldwin

Plot: To avenge her mother’s death, Pixie masterminds a heist but must flee across Ireland from gangsters, take on the patriarchy, and choose her own destiny.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Pixie starts in the small Irish town where Pixie (Cooke) has been planning her escape from the town, putting together her new boyfriend and ex-boyfriend to steal a bunch of drugs from the church, only for the plan to go wrong.

Locals Frank (Hardy) and Harland (McCormack) find the drugs and are joined by Pixie in looking to get out of the town, with the gangster step-father Dermot O’Brien (Meaney) and Father Hector McGrath (Baldwin) hunting them down.

Thoughts on Pixie

Characters & Performances – Pixie is a young woman with a plan, a revenge plan and an escape plan. She must adapt to the change, with her sense of adventure taking her along with the two guys Frank and Harland to make the money and deal with her past. She is a strong lady who knows how to get what she wants from people and has been pushed into make this her only option. Olivia Cooke is a joy to watch in this leading role, where she demands to be the centre of attention throughout the film. Frank is the fast-talking cocky guy out of the pair, he will rush in quickly when troubles come out. Ben Hardy does give us the laughs with the other the top figure we get to meet in the film, working well with Daryl. Harland is the educated one of the two that hasn’t ever found himself getting into conflict, with this adventure pushing him well out of the comfort zone. Daryl McCormack does work well with Ben, giving us the reluctant one that can be pushed into things he doesn’t want to do. When we look at the supporting cast we get to see, we see the different levels of drug dealers, and people that Pixie is looking to work with or against. The supporting cast performances all help elevate their characters to have the moments which will be important to Pixie in her story.

Story – The story here follows Pixie as she looks to execute a plan to escape her life in Ireland by putting the people, she believes have crossed her to use, until things go wrong, and she meets two former classmates that will help on her adventure. This is a crime thriller adventure type movie, showing how one person will need to use everything that went against them as motivation to get more out of life. It does have a road trip feel to everything as we see the three get to look at life differently and maybe find their own reasons to change, as well as the typical look at the gangster figures in unusual environments.

Themes – Pixie is a comedy crime thriller that will take us through the beauty of the Irish countryside, giving us twists in the story, which will pit people up against gangsters, who are a mix of priests and old man looking to just be a family man.