Tag: Romance

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Movie Review

Twilight: Eclipse (2010) Movie Review

Twilight Eclipse – ABC Film Challenge – Sequels/Remake – X (Xavier Samuel) – Twilight Eclipse – Movie Review

Eclipse

Director: David Slade

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)

Writer: Stephenie Meyer (Novel)

Cast

  • Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
  • Robert Pattinson (The Batman)
  • Taylor Lautner (Abduction)
  • Xavier Samuel (Fury)
  • Billy Burke (Drive Angry)

Plot: As a string of mysterious killings grips Seattle, Bella, whose high school graduation is fast approaching, is forced to choose between her love for vampire Edward and her friendship with werewolf Jacob.

Runtime: 2 Hours 4 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Twilight Eclipse starts as Bella (Stewart) is getting back into her life with Edward (Pattinson). She wants to keep her friendship with Jacob (Lautner) alive, while the vampires and werewolves continue to be at each other’s throats.

When a new threat starts heading to the small town. The vampires and werewolves must put aside their differences to stand side by side to fight back against the new blood vampires. They are deadlier than most, as Victoria looks to get revenge on Bella for taking her partner at the beginning of the saga.

Verdict on Twilight Eclipse

Twilight Eclipse is the third instalment in the fantasy romance series. This time the two sides must work together against a common enemy after Bella. However, her feelings for both will cause more drama than necessary as the promise previously made cause tension.

This series is building up a nice interesting battle between vampires and werewolves. With the vampire needing to deal with their own kind being a problem too. However, it is when we dive into the romance side of the story everything becomes frustrating. It is all too much of a waste of story potential, seeing the two alpha males fighting over Bella and seeing both sides fighting to protect her. This doesn’t seem to go anywhere new, showing Edward having the upper hand despite his own objections to her request to be transformed in the future. If things had been left between the battle between fantasy creatures, we could have had a lot more fun here.

Final Thoughts – Twilight Eclipse has way too much romantic drama holding back the bigger battles.

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Movie Review

Looks That Kill (2020) Movie Review

Looks That Kill – Movie Review

Looks That Kill

Director: Kellen Moore

Writer: Kellen Moore (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Brandon Flynn
  • Julia Goldani Telles (Slender Man)
  • Annie Mumolo
  • Ki Hong Lee
  • Peter Scolari

Plot: The story of a teenage boy who deals with the ups and downs of being lethally attractive.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Looks That Kill starts as we meet Max (Flynn) who has a rare condition that makes him lethally attractive. As Max is reaching his late teens, he starts to show more signs of his loneliness. His best friend Dan (Lee) looks to help him out.

Max meets a fellow lonely teen Alex (Telles) at the hospital and the two start hanging out. The pair learn they both have problems in their lives and getting too close could cause other problems.

Verdict on Looks That Kill

Looks That Kill is a romantic comedy jumping on the young love bandwagon. The movie looks to bring out a new mysterious illness that will see two people come together because of their illnesses.

Like most young love stories, we know there is going to be tragedy involved. It gets the beats of following the typical story well, giving us two likeable characters to get behind. It does address the idea that you need to make the most of your life, it is short and go out and enjoy it.

While this story doesn’t reinvent anything we haven’t seen before, it does bring us a solid story that is easy to watch. The performance is strong by the leading couple and the supporting cast gets the odd laugh along the way.

Final Thoughts – Looks That Kill is an enjoyable rom com.

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Movie Review

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012) Movie Review

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 – ABC Film Challenge – Sequels/Remakes – R (Robert Pattinson) – Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 – Movie Review

Breaking Dawn

Director: Bill Condon

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)

Writer: Stephenie Meyer (Novel)

Cast

  • Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
  • Robert Pattinson (The Batman)
  • Taylor Lautner (Abduction)
  • Ashley Greene (Bombshell)
  • Billy Burke (Drive Angry)

Plot: After the birth of Renesmee/Nessie, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi.

Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 starts when Bella (Stewart) has come back to life as a vampire. She needs to learn to control her urges and learn to adapt to the power she possesses. Her newborn child Renesmee grabs the attention of the Volturi, who don’t accept any children in the vampire species.

The Cullens must figure out how to survive the impending attack. They look to recruit other vampire families to witness what the Volturi want to do and prove that their child was born, not created from feeding.

Verdict on Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 is the final chapter in the fantasy romance tale. It puts the Cullens in their biggest fight to date. Putting them up against the Volturi, the powerful vampire coven that controls vampire decisions.

This does feel like a solid conclusion, despite not bringing us a massive completion to everything. In fact, it feels like an anti-climax that is only the beginning of a much bigger story to come. This built up the bigger battle only to not deliver and leave us waiting to see if we end up getting the end of the fight. The best part of the whole series is how disturbing killing vampires is. The crushing of the neck and twist while arms get ripped off, is the biggest standout in the film series.

Final Thoughts – Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 is a flat finish to a saga that never really got going.

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Movie Review

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) Movie Review

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 – ABC Film Challenge – Sequels/Remakes – K (Kristen Stewart) – Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 – Movie Review

Breaking Dawn

Director: Bill Condon

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)

Writer: Stephenie Meyer (Novel)

Cast

  • Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
  • Robert Pattinson (The Batman)
  • Taylor Lautner (Abduction)
  • Ashley Greene (Bombshell)
  • Billy Burke (Drive Angry)

Plot: The Quileutes close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses a threat to the Wolf Pack and the towns people of Forks.

Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 starts as Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Pattinson) finally tie the knot. They bring together friends and family for their celebration before starting their life together. As the couple spend their honeymoon together an unexpected twist happens.

Bella becomes pregnant, something that shouldn’t happen between vampires and humans. This news strikes up a new problem as Jacob (Lautner) and his werewolf pack must face their own pact being destroyed between the two kinds.

Verdict on Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 continues the fantasy romance as the couple look to start their lives together. All this before Bella must accept her fate and become a vampire too. There is an unexpected twist in the story after Bella becomes pregnant, only to make things worse for everyone involved.

Splitting the final movie into two has always been a point of discussion, as it can feel like padding to make more money. This first chapter does feel like a lot of padding, where not very much happens for the nearly two-hour runtime. It does the same discussion about whether Bella should be turned into a vampire or not. The battle between vampires and werewolves and the future changing. There is so much nothing going on here, it leaves most of the biggest entertainment to come in the next chapter.

Final Thoughts – Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 feels more like padding before the final film.

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Movie Review

Twilight: New Moon (2009) Movie Review

Twilight: New Moon – ABC Film Challenge – Sequels/Remakes – J (Jacob) – Twilight New Moon – Movie Review

New Moon

Director: Chris Weitz

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)

Writer: Stephenie Meyer (Novel)

Cast

  • Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
  • Robert Pattinson (The Batman)
  • Billy Burke (Drive Angry)
  • Anna Kendrick (50/50)
  • Taylor Lautner (Abduction)

Plot: Edward leaves Bella after an attack that nearly claimed her life, and, in her depression, she falls into yet another difficult relationship – this time with her close friend, Jacob Black.

Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Twilight: New Moon starts with Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Pattinson) who are now taking their relationship seriously. This changes when the Cullen family learns they must move away, not being able to control their urges.

Broken-hearted Bella struggles to get through the sudden break-up. She ends up getting closer to her oldest friend Jacob (Lautner) only to find herself being left once again. Bella finds herself caught in the middle of another supernatural fight, one she didn’t see coming with Jacob’s background.

Verdict on Twilight: New Moon

Twilight: New Moon is the first sequel in the fantasy romance saga. Here, Bella finds herself needing to be left for her own safety. However, she makes friends with a new group of supernatural creatures that fight vampires, as she tries to understand why Edward left her.

This does continue to build the bigger story going on, showing Bella thrown into the battle between vampires and werewolves. The movie focuses more on Bella struggling to live without Edward, seeing the pair struggling to deal with living apart. It creates a bigger world without showing us everything, leaving us ready for the next chapter. However, this does leave the movie feeling slightly empty because we don’t get enough closure from this chapter.

Final Thoughts – Twilight: New Moon has solid building blocks without getting going.

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Movie Review

Twilight (2008) Movie Review

Twilight – Movie Review

Twilight

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)

Writer: Stephenie Meyer (Novel)

Cast

  • Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
  • Robert Pattinson (The Batman)
  • Billy Burke (Drive Angry)
  • Sarah Clarke (24)
  • Taylor Lautner (Abduction)

Plot: When Bella Swan moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire.

Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Twilight starts when Bella (Stewart) moves to a new small town to live with her father Charlie (Burke). She must get used to a new school and meets the different residents including the mysterious Cullen family.

As Bella starts to get to know Edward Cullen (Pattinson), a romance starts to blossom. However, she is surprised to learn that he is part of a family of vampires who live in peace. When a rival vampire gang arrives in the area, the Cullens must do everything they can to move them out and protect the humans, including Bella.

Verdict on Twilight

Twilight is the start of the fantasy romance juggernaut that took over the world. It follows a new girl in a small town that finds herself getting caught up in the middle of a battle between vampires. She falls in love with one another and learns how much they will do to help save them.

The easiest way to describe this movie is Romeo and Juliet with vampires. A forbidden love story between a human and a vampire that spirals out of control. This does create the typical high school dynamics and ends up going down a path of wanting to live in a world where high school romance is the best you will ever have. Outside of the high school side of things, we see the supernatural battle between vampires in the world.

Final Thoughts – Twilight is an entertaining high school vampire romance movie.

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Movie Review

The Spectacular Now (2013) Movie Review

The Spectacular Now – ABC Film Challenge – 2010’s Movies – T – The Spectacular Now – Movie Review

Spectacular Now

Director: James Ponsoldt

Writer: Scott Neustadter, Michael H Weber (Screenplay)

Writer: Tim Tharp (Novel)

Cast

Plot: A hard-partying high school senior’s philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical “nice girl.”

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Spectacular Now starts as party animal high school student Sutter (Teller) is struggling with his college application. He breaks up with his girlfriend Cassidy (Larson) before meeting a different girl from his school Aimee (Woodley).

The two start a relationship that helps Sutter see the world from a different point of view. As he prepares for the next stage of his life, leading him to need to make a big decision about his own future.

Verdict on The Spectacular Now

The Spectacular Now is a coming-of-age tale for a high school student unsure about his own future. He starts to change whom he sees and hangs around leading him down a different path in his life.

In the teen coming-of-age tales, we are used to seeing a character needing to learn about life. One that he isn’t prepared for, something many teenagers would struggle with at this stage in life. It doesn’t bring at much fresh to the ideas, doing everything it needs to do right along the way. Most of the movie becomes largely forgettable by the end, without it being bad, just done before. The performances are good through the film, with a strong cast that have gone onto bigger and better things.

Final Thoughts – The Spectacular Now is a by the book teenage coming-of-age tale.

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Movie Review

The Perfect Match (2016) Movie Review

The Perfect Match – ABC Film Challenge – 2010s Movies – P – The Perfect Match – Movie Review

Perfect Match

Director: Bille Woodruff

Writer: Brandon Broussard, Gary Hardwick, Dana Verde (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A playboy named Charlie, convinced that all his relationships are dead, meets the beautiful and mysterious Eva. Agreeing to a casual affair, Charlie then wants a bit more from their relationship.

Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Perfect Match starts as playboy Charlie (Jenkins) shows off his womanising ways. His best friends Rick (Faison) and Victor (Riley) constantly listen to his stories and his sister Sherry (Patton) questions why he can’t settle down.

When Charlie meets the mysterious Eva (Ventura), his vision of relationships starts to change. Charlie is left to wonder if he is ready for a relationship with a woman that openly says she wants to have fun.

Verdict on The Perfect Match

The Perfect Match is a romantic comedy that follows a playboy that finds love in an unlikely place. Only not everything is as smooth as he had hoped, and he sees his life turned upside down.

When it comes to romantic comedies about a playboy discovering more about life. This does everything it needs to, as for the story side of things. It gives a life lesson to the main character while having fun supporting characters along the way. This tackles problem that people can have in love, from the search and how they act. The performances are strong as the whole cast shows excellent chemistry throughout the movie.

Final Thoughts – The Perfect Match is an easy to watch fun romantic comedy.

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Movie Review

Wonder Wheel (2017) Movie Review

Wonder Wheel – ABC Film Challenge – 2010s Movies – K (Kate Winslet) – Wonder Wheel – Movie Review

Wonder Wheel

Director: Woody Allen

Writer: Woody Allen (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Justin Timberlake (Southland Tales)
  • Juno Temple (Killing Me Softly)
  • Robert C Kirk (The Irishman)
  • Kate Winslet (Avatar Way of Water)
  • Jim Belushi (Red Heat)

Plot: On Coney Island in the 1950s, a lifeguard tells the story of a middle-aged carousel operator, his beleaguered wife and the visitor who turns their lives upside-down.

Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wonder Wheel starts when Carolina (Temple) moves in with her estranged father Humpty (Belushi) in Coney Island. She has gone into hiding from her husband from the mob. This sees her getting to know her stepmom Ginny (Winslet) who has started her own affair with lifeguard Mickey (Timberlake).

When Ginny starts to get frustrated with her own life, she believes Carolina is trying to get close to Mickey. This leads to her getting more defensive in her life as life gets more complicated for her.

Verdict on Wonder Wheel

Wonder Wheel is a romance story following a summer of interwoven lives around Coney Island. It follows a lonely married woman getting caught up in an affair with a lifeguard while dealing with problems with the children in her life.

This whole movie feels like a tale you might have heard from a friend of a friend that had someone remotely involved in it. There are so many loose ends being left out there, which only makes the story feel more confusing. It feels unfinished, but in a way that is designed to say you only get to hear part of the story. Sadly, this feels like a chapter to a bigger story and never does enough to get us invested.

Final Thoughts – Wonder Wheel feels like a small chapter of bigger story.