tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41461220262679215162024-03-17T17:36:45.732-04:00Pedro CanhenhaThis Blog registers all the movie reviews I've been writing since 2006. canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.comBlogger1665125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-68416218765543438802024-03-17T17:29:00.007-04:002024-03-17T17:30:49.988-04:00Oppenheimer<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbuUKLPRB6-QYBYWhVIiDCgG153htM_LcVZQmkROo4CqX0gw6-kDs-DtyChWO1eIm8iNcuGKmXZhiIzO4t2t-a3c2SSReia6hVDuyHggEpPHgaDS6LBfUzyEEUCtSnd3OIaxeYIJYbE6G7KUoKMhsh00dXjL1c9xN1BEkBt4syrD-mBk3TGFJanig9DlYI/s755/oppenheimer.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="477" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbuUKLPRB6-QYBYWhVIiDCgG153htM_LcVZQmkROo4CqX0gw6-kDs-DtyChWO1eIm8iNcuGKmXZhiIzO4t2t-a3c2SSReia6hVDuyHggEpPHgaDS6LBfUzyEEUCtSnd3OIaxeYIJYbE6G7KUoKMhsh00dXjL1c9xN1BEkBt4syrD-mBk3TGFJanig9DlYI/s320/oppenheimer.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15398776/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oppenheimer</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Christopher Nolan</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Hartnett, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Jason Clarke, Kenneth Branagh, Macon Blair, Tony Goldwyn, Alden Ehrenreich, Scott Grimes, David Krumholtz, Tom Conti, Michael Angarano, Matthew Modine, Dane DeHaan, Josh Peck, Jack Quaid, Benny Safdie, James Urbaniak, Rami Malek, Olivia Thirlby, Casey Affleck, James Remar, Gary Oldman, Josh Zuckerman, Alex Wolff, Tim DeKay, Gregory Jbara, James D'Arcy</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Adventure</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 6<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.f60cf07a-7363-411e-9f4a-b93b568ef3d3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">After the relative disappointment of "Tenet", Christopher Nolan took his time to find another studio partner, and tackle a biopic of one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer (the "father" of the atomic bomb). The film has obviously been a massive hit, both critically and commercially, and I deliberately wanted to have some distance from all the noise, to consume the film and view it hopefully in an unbiased manner. The narrative tracks and focuses on the life of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, but more specifically on the period of time in which he assembled a group of engineers and experts in order to build what essentially became the atomic bomb. In parallel we also witness a different time period (in the 50s), where through the machinations of Lewis Strauss, we observe a hearing Dr. Oppenheimer goes through in order to keep his clearance status, when Strauss was intent on destroying his credibility. Throughout the multiple timelines the film focuses on, we also witness Dr. Oppenheimer's relationships with a few women in his life, firstly with the volatile Jean Tatlock and then with Kitty, who becomes his second wife and partner through all these ordeals.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Biopics are always a challenge, in the sense they can either go very academic and try to encompass too much of the subject's life, while not revealing much about the person behind the myth, as was the case with Sir Richard Attenborough's "Ghandi" (or even "Chaplin"), or they can sometimes veer towards the anecdote, which was the case of the lamentable "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", from Michael Showalter. "Oppenheimer", much like most of Christopher Nolan's films, decides to make the narrative more intricate, by both placing multiple timelines occurring simultaneously, but also by defining the tone of the film as a mix of Oliver Stone's "JFK" and Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry Men". On one hand there's much detail focused on the process by which the atomic bomb was construed, including his own recruitment, and how Dr. Oppenheimer went about bringing other engineers and scientists to the initiative. Simultaneously there's the conspiracy aspect of the narrative, where we witness the downfall of Dr. Oppenheimer's reputation, thanks to the Machiavellian doings from Lewis Strauss, and all the voices involved. The way the film is constructed is even similar to what Oliver Stone did with "JFK", where there's a different tint and color for the time periods (or even character angles) that are being tackled. You would think that with such a lofty time run (the film goes on for 3 hours), eventually something about Dr. Oppenheimer would come through, sadly the film goes for the lofty big message (which is a fair one), and fails to actually capture who that person actually is (or was). During the film we learn he was a womanizer (we never get an understanding why, or what did he pursue in doing so, aside from the pursuit itself), that he maintained difficult relationships with the women in his life, and even with the male friendships. The film fails to humanize who this individual with lofty ideas was. In the pursuit of clarifying the intellectual effort of creating something that killed thousands of people, the film somehow missed the aspect of documenting what is the burden of carrying such a legacy within oneself. The supporting characters also come across fairly lackluster, with the women in particular having little to do, whereas the supporting male characters, aside from Robert Downey Jr.'s Lewis Strauss, either falling into "cheerful sidekick" (of sorts) or "reptilean and possible foe" (of sorts) camps. There are things to admire in this film, and some of it is tied with the director's ability to stage certain scenes, and some of the performances, including Robert Downey Jr. and Florence Pugh, however this pseudo biopic-thriller, doesn't necessarily provide an emotional reward or connection to these characters. Nor is it a riveting document as Oliver Stone or Sidney Lumet's films that were mentioned before turned out to be. There are good ideas, and the production team is impeccable, but this isn't an entirely satisfying feature. </span></div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-49852180774245260762024-03-17T14:09:00.003-04:002024-03-17T14:09:44.193-04:00Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMRtaGsRQwhkj9Xp5iPUOIs42kXxbv1mp_vSsKU0DcG4I1PmB-BfWaMJ8Y7z1X74rCwiYlzKIE5UHVZupzseXlscm8TwFM-tlrlI9ueDCynCjUViUTMVib7pXZnyuK6kTYEuEOo_PFJc0-uhFpUSYJyuN2cq5zVbjioj16br8qJ5AB68mqv8d6_apOjEp/s755/aquaman_and_the_lost_kingdom.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMRtaGsRQwhkj9Xp5iPUOIs42kXxbv1mp_vSsKU0DcG4I1PmB-BfWaMJ8Y7z1X74rCwiYlzKIE5UHVZupzseXlscm8TwFM-tlrlI9ueDCynCjUViUTMVib7pXZnyuK6kTYEuEOo_PFJc0-uhFpUSYJyuN2cq5zVbjioj16br8qJ5AB68mqv8d6_apOjEp/s320/aquaman_and_the_lost_kingdom.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9663764/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">James Wan</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Jason Mamoa, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amber Heard, Randall Park, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, Martin Short, Jani Zhao, Pilou Asbek, Indya Moore, Vincent Regan, John Rhys-Davies </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Adventure</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 2<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.014f54b0-7c21-4c86-87cb-f322c5e3d385" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">James Wan's first major stumble comes in the shape of this sequel to "Aquaman". The original film was a surprise monster hit for the studio and the creative team, and of course a sequel was set in motion to capitalize on that, even if the creative team handling the DC characters has since changed. The sequel finds Arthur/Aquaman as the ruler of Atlantis, continuing to face challenges when it comes to the relationship with the surface dwellers. His challenges have also increased, since he divides his time between Atlantis and the surface, living with his father and taking care of his newborn baby since his union with Mera. To make matters worse, Black Manta is intent on getting his revenge for the death of his father, and manages to locate an ancient artifact, a dark trident which in reality is tied with Atlantean history. Turns out that trident belonged to King Atlan's brother Kordax, who led the kingdom of Necrus, and was defeated by Atlan as he tried to do an uprise. The Black Manta, influenced by the dark trident, starts putting a plan in motion which includes further disrupting climate patterns and create a massive planetary extinction in the process. In order to locate the Black Manta, Arthur has to resort to his imprisoned brother Orm, and leverage his assistance to tackle these challenges. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">I've always counted myself as a fan of James Wan, particularly his partnership with Leigh Whannell, and the stories they've been able to tell with very few resources (the "Insidious" franchise for example). "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is somewhat perplexing, in the sense that for a film with this type of budget, it looks surprisingly cheap and even amateurish in certain details of the production design, something that also becomes particularly noticeable in the transitions between the outside shots and in studio shots (which are meant to be seamless). It's as if though the creative team couldn't wait to get through this experience, and the attention to detail was all but gone. The presence of Mera and actress Amber Heard (whose performance is indeed wooden and unmemorable) is minimized, but never explained (at some point it gives the impression Arthur is a single father, but all of a sudden Mera pops into the frame). All these aspects are surprising for someone with the talent and vision of James Wan, who typically primes for being able to create a universe that is coherent, believable and populate it with characters that even at their worst definition, still have something to say. That seems to have been eradicated in this film, where the narrative/plot is barely intelligible, and where the references to other films, both visually and narratively are also a mixed bag with various results. There are references to George Lucas' "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones", Andrew Stanton's "John Carter", Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and even Richard Fleischer's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", but these disparate sources, don't congeal into something coherent, or for that matter, interesting. All the clichés of the comic book formula are there, including the villain who is intent on revenge (and that's it, there's nothing else to him), the bumbling scientist with a conscience, the villainous brother who turns out not to be so bad, and the list goes on. All these characters barely make a dent, and even with Jason Mamoa's cool vibe and Nicole Kidman's attempts at bringing some emotional depth, it still fails to give the film any actual sense of drama, fun or adventure. It's quite possibly one of the most poorly written comic book films yet, with a mediocre production team, where even some of the visual effects look rushed and lack polish. Avoid. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-80752142918234734332024-03-17T12:40:00.005-04:002024-03-17T12:40:55.207-04:00Poor Things<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOoIL4xGRHUakGSgy7mMX1Og7IJOrOCQEbwC9_zjJN-Fx4XFMB2IT-Wtj4-iFNINXfhJMm7JTPGUqfAytFgOwoORfMipF3EinZ43DrYucmFaiYo8Gh0RO4gbZXF1O_Ox4OvGBRiOWtYSD3OTDcUnaMOQrX-GxkPzwaXdWCqg7aDzafpYHeIefhYlTQejKI/s755/poor_things.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOoIL4xGRHUakGSgy7mMX1Og7IJOrOCQEbwC9_zjJN-Fx4XFMB2IT-Wtj4-iFNINXfhJMm7JTPGUqfAytFgOwoORfMipF3EinZ43DrYucmFaiYo8Gh0RO4gbZXF1O_Ox4OvGBRiOWtYSD3OTDcUnaMOQrX-GxkPzwaXdWCqg7aDzafpYHeIefhYlTQejKI/s320/poor_things.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14230458/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Poor Things</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Yorgos Lanthimos</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Charmichael, Margaret Qualley, Christopher Abbott, Hanna Schygulla, Kathryn Hunter, Suzy Bemba, John Locke, Keeley Forsyth, Vicki Pepperdine </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama, Comedy</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 8<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.a3a243ae-6d81-48c1-a02b-0bfa3e2a4e22" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things" is a reunion of sorts, in the sense he has assembled some of the same creative team he leveraged for his celebrated "The Favourite" (namely the screenwriter Tony McNamara, cinematographer Robbie Ryan and lead actress Emma Stone). The narrative is an adaptation of the novel by Alasdair Gray, and follows the story of Bella Baxter, whom we first encounter under the tutelage of Godwin Baxter, a medical scientist/surgeon, whom we also soon discover to be the one responsible for Bella's existence. In one flashback we realize Bella killed herself by leaping off a bridge, and Godwin brought her back to life, but he also replaced her brain with the one of her unborn baby. As Bella's socializing develops, in parallel with her cognitive skills, Godwin encourages his assistant Max to document Bella's intellectual growth, and as a result they become close. Max proposes marriage to Bella, which she accepts, however she decides before settling into marriage to discover what lies beyond London, and to do so with the shrewd Duncan Wedderburn, a lawyer Godwin hired to oversee the nuptial contract. They have a strong sexual connection, something Bella enjoys exploring. Duncan who's somewhat of a cad, and never attaches himself to anyone, starts developing feelings for Bella, and fearing his inability to control her in Lisbon, smuggles her onto a cruise ship. There Bella continues her intellectual growth, making friends with two other passengers, who both provide friendship and intellectual stimulation. She also starts seeing Duncan for who he is, leading to more arguments. Things come to a dramatic halt when they port in Alexandria. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">Yorgos Lanthimos has the ability to leverage the abstract and apparently absurd to make great points about human nature and life itself. His narratives marry both the beauty of what being human is all about (the ability to love and be kind), with the grotesqueness, vile, and violent things people are able to do, sometimes all in the same situation. "Poor Things" walks that terrain, bringing to mind François Truffaut's "L'Enfant Sauvage" to mind, in the sense that Bella is akin to a child that is being socialized, but who quickly blooms to a woman, with her own mindset, someone who doesn't want to be trapped by the patriarchy of Victorian society or by the taboos of what society considers "acceptable". Yorgos Lanthimos smartly avoids falling into the trappings of doing a "Forrest Gump" or a "Being There" type of narrative (the simple minded central hero who shows everyone that a simple take on life is the solution to all problems), opting instead for a tale where Bella grows into her own abilities, understanding how the world works, but still remaining herself, with her own unique point of view informed by her life experiences and her ambitions. All of these topics could potentially come across as either too philosophical or even pedantic, but to the director and his creative team's credit, the film has a momentum and beauty to it, one where all the pieces come together perfectly, and where humor is always present. There are certain pacing issues with the film, particularly when the narrative lands in Paris, but the director manages to bring back that rhythm. The cast is impeccable, with Emma Stone creating yet another fantastic character, with solid support from Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Abbott and Hanna Schygulla (who is always a pleasure to see). The production team is impeccable with highlights going to Robbie Ryan's cinematography, Shona Heath and James Price's production design, Holly Waddington's costumes and Jerskin Fendrix's score. A wonderful film from one the most interesting film makers currently working. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-5527587377302728682024-03-16T20:12:00.002-04:002024-03-16T20:12:50.308-04:00Underwater<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtf0lzYRHJaTN03WgnHyumyEKYXpnE4QG632yujqJFYLEOtfS_ATFTFrVmTVHCrwsBEkuWofjz7sAZuyMweVrECLzl1IkH80acnTSOINrOyXDgto7r5SFlSMtxVDLTtk0IsQ7-RueRjE6l_zHOR9J9pFfZsxTGb1cqUukdwoZFf2UHOKjlNGz-EkneQx-/s2048/underwater.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtf0lzYRHJaTN03WgnHyumyEKYXpnE4QG632yujqJFYLEOtfS_ATFTFrVmTVHCrwsBEkuWofjz7sAZuyMweVrECLzl1IkH80acnTSOINrOyXDgto7r5SFlSMtxVDLTtk0IsQ7-RueRjE6l_zHOR9J9pFfZsxTGb1cqUukdwoZFf2UHOKjlNGz-EkneQx-/s320/underwater.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5774060/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Underwater</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2020<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">William Eubank</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Kristen Stewart, Jessica Henwick, Vincent Cassel, John Gallagher Jr., T.J. Miller, Mamoudou Athie, Gunner Wright</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Horror</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 5<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.9eb8f80e-4ba7-1a3d-1113-70a2d79fab8f" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">William Eubank made a name for himself with the films "Love" and "The Signal", though he has also maintained a steady career as a cinematographer. "Underwater" follows the story of Norah, whom we first encounter getting ready for her day. She works at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in a research and drilling facility operated by Tian Industries. She's a mechanical engineer, and is soon fighting for her life, when what she assumes to be a strong earthquake, sends a ripple effect through the rig destroying parts of it, forcing her and her colleagues Rodrigo and Paul to make an attempted escape in rescue pods. However the pods have already been deployed and the only person left is Captain Lucien. They all manage to get to another control base, where they find Emily and Liam, who have also been unsuccessful at contacting the surface. They end up agreeing on using pressurized suits to walk one mile across the ocean floor to another one of the plaftorms, Roebuck 641, where there are additional escape pods. Rodrigo is the first to perish due to a malfunction in his helmet. Paul and Smith while investigating some escape pods uncover a creature that attacks them. While Smith kills the creature, after examining it, they all realize it belongs to an undiscovered species, one that is apparently quite aggressive. As the team sticks to their plan of walking to the platform with the rescue pods, they start getting attacked and killed, with Norah eventually finding herself in a situation where she has to make some difficult decisions for the sake of herself and her team mates. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">"Underwater" is a film that immediately brings to mind Ridley Scott's "Alien" but also, George P. Cosmatos' "Leviathan" and James Cameron's "Abyss". The last two because they take place underwater, and the first because, as most audiences know, it basically has set in motion one of the most iconic series ever captured on film, where a menacing entity destroys and nearly kills every single member of a space crew. "Underwater" has a very similar storyline, where a small team has to escape not only the aftermath of an earthquake, but also the attacks of a menacing and alien-like creature. William Eubank smartly weaves the narrative as a claustrophobic endeavor, where the peril surrounds the survivors at all times, from the pressurized water, to the alien creatures that surround them and can attack at every step. The darkness of the terrain is also leveraged to great effect since it renders the survivors almost completely blind/unaware of their surroundings, and therefore that much more vulnerable to attacks or even the terrain in which they're standing. There's definitely an aspect of a slick B-movie to "Underwater", particularly since the director (and the writers) never give these characters that much dimension, aside from succinct explanations as to why they're on the rig, and also the typification of their behaviors (the resourceful lead, the joker who doesn't last very long, the stoic captain, and the list goes on). The director is smart in not letting the narrative fall into the trappings and the shlock of "Leviathan", but also fails to explore more about these characters, making them in the process less memorable and their complicity less effective (unlike what James Cameron brought to his under-appreciated "The Abyss", where the group of characters felt part of a family). The cast tries their best to bring these characters to life, including Kristen Stewart, Jessica Henwick, Vincent Cassel and John Gallagher Jr., who are the highlights of the cast, however they're underserved by a rather undercooked script (that at times, even in the character design references, feels like a literal ripoff from "Alien"). The production team is solid, with highlights going to Bojan Bazelli's impeccable cinematography, Naaman Marshall's production design, and Dorotka Sapinska's costumes. It's a watchable, but also quickly forgettable endeavor. </span></div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-319839198958480472024-03-16T18:55:00.003-04:002024-03-16T18:55:32.139-04:00Damsel<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8TiX1bp4ik_HdBjfR54CkohUTKv6ol3aIaeQ9RX7YlIhjKnvQV5BzGjVplXxk42T05flIB8QtCdHqYJ2yahExEcCJOV3-tfm8pfLS-oyAd-8N8-QjTECHjKwAWZnwEjmLGCMm_mEHxf2MNceHqfKSOJCd_aArlw46huzlncRImQ-jmKBgdFKrb99WFod/s755/damsel.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8TiX1bp4ik_HdBjfR54CkohUTKv6ol3aIaeQ9RX7YlIhjKnvQV5BzGjVplXxk42T05flIB8QtCdHqYJ2yahExEcCJOV3-tfm8pfLS-oyAd-8N8-QjTECHjKwAWZnwEjmLGCMm_mEHxf2MNceHqfKSOJCd_aArlw46huzlncRImQ-jmKBgdFKrb99WFod/s320/damsel.jpeg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13452446/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Damsel</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2024<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Juan Carlos Fresnadillo</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone, Robin Wright, Angela Bassett, Brooke Carter, Nick Robinson, Milo Twomey, Nicole Joseph, Shohreh Aghdashloo</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Adventure</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 4<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80991090" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Netflix</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Juan Carlos Fresnadillo made a name for himself with the somewhat underrated "Intacto", which came out in 2001, and went on to direct the solid sequel to Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later". Since then he tackled the Clive Owen fronted "The Intruders" and some TV movies, but nothing that allowed for his talent and point of view to come across. "Damsel" follows the story of Elodie, a young woman whose father agrees to marry her to a Queen's son, since their region and people are impoverished, and this union will bring some much needed money influx. While initially unsure of the situation, Elodie agrees with it for the well being of everyone. When they get to Aurea and meet the rulers, there's a certain aloofness from the Queen, but Elodie and her betrothed start chatting and eventually notice some chemistry between each other. Elodie's stepmother warns her not to go through with the wedding. She suspects the Queen is up to no good. Elodie goes along with the wedding ceremony, which is followed by a ritual that takes place in the mountain. After the ritual takes place, the prince carries Elodie in his arms, and throws her into the chasm. She survives the fall, and as she recovers, she realizes more young women have befallen prey of that sacrifice, and that in reality there's an enormous dragon intent on killing her to fulfill an arrangement the Queen's family made generations ago. She has to devise a way to overcome several obstacles if she wants to survive. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">The script for "Damsel" comes from Dan Mazeau, who also wrote the story for Justin Lin & Louis Leterrier's "Fast X", as well as Jonathan Liebesman's "Wrath of the Titans". Which for all intended purposes means that this film ends up being rather flimsy in terms of character development and even situational development. As much as Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has a vision and a style, there's only so much he can bring to a narrative that is rather insipid and not particularly revolutionary. Elodie, the central character, is meant to symbolize a rather more empowered princess, someone who is more emboldened, and not quite so passive when it comes to taking ahold of her destiny. However most of that emboldening is illustrated in the early scenes where we witness her chopping wood, and later on as she's dealing with the threat of a herculean Dragon, she MacGyvers something with her own hair in order to lure the creature in. As far as who this princess actually is, that's something that's never really uncovered or even alluded to, the same going for the supporting characters. The always wonderful Robin Wright and Angela Bassett (and also Ray Winstone) are settled with rather stunted characters, which while they do bring some regality and nuance to their depiction, they're not the focus of the narrative, nor their characters have that much to offer. It's a rather formulaic type of storyline, which Juan Carlos Fresnadillo manages to bring to life with fairly decent visual effects and production design, but that sadly just isn't particularly memorable. The cast, in addition to Robin Wright, Angela Bassett and Ray Winstone, isn't particularly memorable either, though <span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Shohreh Aghdashloo does make a convincing Dragon voice. Larry Fong's cinematography is solid, as is David Fleming's score, Patrick Tatopoulous production design, and Amanda Monk's costume design. It's a rather forgettable endeavor stemming from an uninspired script. </span></div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-36134938066421664242024-03-10T16:27:00.003-04:002024-03-10T16:27:33.751-04:00Totally Killer<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj92SjoOXVcAkAfsjvoWtIf3pTpTAh9Ti4pm9-Xd1b4iJ0p3vRdV82WurbIU84FayV7h8npHIP2xdOkRy7JPNB4LSx7-Jad5I4zGRQ0GA1wK2F6lPrykPr6imTzNWYDsrCfLtvwt3vgvpogSgy3X35vMN1ZvO6Cszi3f0O-znpUjNeySaxqecZkapH79Td/s1481/totally_killer.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1481" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj92SjoOXVcAkAfsjvoWtIf3pTpTAh9Ti4pm9-Xd1b4iJ0p3vRdV82WurbIU84FayV7h8npHIP2xdOkRy7JPNB4LSx7-Jad5I4zGRQ0GA1wK2F6lPrykPr6imTzNWYDsrCfLtvwt3vgvpogSgy3X35vMN1ZvO6Cszi3f0O-znpUjNeySaxqecZkapH79Td/s320/totally_killer.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11426232/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Totally Killer</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Nahnatchka Khan</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Kiernan Shipka, Olivia Holt, Julie Bowen, Lochlyn Munro, Charlie Gillespie, Randall Park, Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, Liana Liberato, Kelcey Mawema, Stephi Chin-Salvo, Anna Diaz, Ella Choi, Jonathan Potts, Nathaniel Appiah, Zachary Gibson, Nicholas Lloyd, Kimberly Huie</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Comedy, Horror</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 5<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.76b26309-1706-4a9e-95fc-afb23d0a48d0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Nahnatchka Khan has had a lengthy career writing for a series of popular comedy shows including "Malcolm in the Middle", "American Dad", and even the ones she has created, including "Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23", "Fresh Off the Boat" and "Young Rock". Her feature directorial debut was the Ali Wong penned comedy "Always Be My Maybe" and "Totally Killer" is her sophomore directorial endeavor, a slasher and comedy hybrid of sorts. The film focuses on the story of Jamie Hughes, who has doting and loving parents. She is at times at odds with her well meaning mother, who has enforced in her the need to be self reliant and be dexterous in her self defense. Turns out their hometown had a series of killings in 1987, where three teenage girls named Tiffany, Marisa and Heather, were assassinated by someone who became known as the Sweet 16 Killer (because each of them was stabbed 16 times). Jamie's mom is attacked and killed the same way as the girls from 1987, not without offering some fight. Jamie mourns her death, in the company of her best friend Amelia who in the meantime has been creating a time machine for a school project. When Jamie is chased by the killer and hides in the time machine, he inadvertently stabs the machine, which activates it and sends Jamie all the way back to 1987. And right before the killings occur. Jamie figures she has an opportunity to change the past, and save all those girls, but nothing is as simple as she thinks, starting with her parents, particularly her mom who is not as doting, kind or friendly as she always presented herself to be. Jamie has to convince Lauren, her best friend's Amelia mother of who she is, and figure out how she can save the girls and also return to her timeline. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">This mix of "Back to the Future" (from director Robert Zemeckis), with slasher film genre, with "Heathers" (from director Michael Lehman), has indeed much going for it. It's script is also layered with the clash of what these days is considered politically correct, versus what was typically dished out in the 80s (and 90s and 2000s). All these references, clashes, winks, make the film both a satire for the present and past times, and for the most part the film hits the mark on many of these aspects (there are even visual nods to "A Nightmare on Elm Street"). Where the film does lose a bit of its momentum is in the characters themselves. The creative team seems to have really posited their focus and attention on recreating the 80s to perfection, that they forgot to give the characters a bit more than just one paragraph descriptions of who they are and what constitutes their motivations. Particularly when Jamie goes back to the 80s (where a solid score comes into play, with songs from Echo and the Bunnymen for instance), the group of mean girls she comes in touch with, including her future mother, are barely defined, aside from their snarkiness. The film manages to hold one's attention thanks to Kiernan Shipka's central character, but even her is somewhat generic, nothing indicating what makes her particularly distinctive or even insightful (and maybe that's the point). Ultimately the film does hold an entertaining value as recreation of various sources from the 80s, but it could have been so much more. The cast is solid, with Kiernan Shipka getting solid support from Olivia Holt, Julie Bowen, Jonathan Potts and Randall Park. The production team is a bit uninspired, but the score from Michael Andrews is worth highlighting. It's watchable but also easily forgettable. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-33853367468658976572024-03-10T15:18:00.001-04:002024-03-10T15:18:08.109-04:00Bottoms<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEc-eGRVm2UUHdmqIiTEcO1-n8iGzSflUGhYRzuPse6mzi4cQHoOTDH6Jsw-29uy6lf9IG9LZhqx28cb4BCcHOjS4S6jXQq3-VcA4zauZ8oTbFR1c6Ae5CSIQng6zmTR4eF2ptGQxM6oXlHdBwluRV7loY9DKjqENCBWKky2QG3IN1xhJUq2BRMmjIkP9J/s755/bottoms.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEc-eGRVm2UUHdmqIiTEcO1-n8iGzSflUGhYRzuPse6mzi4cQHoOTDH6Jsw-29uy6lf9IG9LZhqx28cb4BCcHOjS4S6jXQq3-VcA4zauZ8oTbFR1c6Ae5CSIQng6zmTR4eF2ptGQxM6oXlHdBwluRV7loY9DKjqENCBWKky2QG3IN1xhJUq2BRMmjIkP9J/s320/bottoms.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17527468/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bottoms</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Emma Seligman</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Rachel Sennot, Ayo Edebiri, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Miles Fowler, Marshawn Lynch, Dagmara Dominczyk, Punkie Johnson, Zamani Wilder, Summer Joy Campbell, Virginia Tucker, Wayne Pere, Toby Nichols, Cameron Stout</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Comedy</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 7<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.0b1c3ce1-4f4a-44b9-96a2-9ef0b014f3fc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Following her well received directorial debut, writer/director Emma Seligman is back, again with the collaboration of lead actress and co-writer Rachel Sennot. "Bottoms" follows the story of two best friends, PJ and Josie, both of whom are unpopular lesbians at their High School. They've never had sex and pine for popular cheerleaders Isabel and Brittany. They have an altercation with the popular jock Jeff at the local fair, where as a result he pretends to have been physically harmed. This spirals into a rumor that both girls were in Juvie during the Summer. When they get threaten with expulsion, they make up a story that whatever happened was just a warm up for a feminist self defense club they're planning on starting. They actually follow through with the club, with the help of the always helpful Hazel, though PJ and Josie are secretly hoping this gives them the opportunity to get closer to their crushes. In order to further give credibility to their club, they ask their checked out History teacher, Mr. G. to be their advisor. The club starts gathering more attendees, and the girls continue to cement the reputation of what supposedly happened during their time in Juvie. And while the brutal training continues, they do attract the attention of Tim, another jock who suspects that there's more to it than what PJ and Josie have been indicating. Everything comes to a halt when the club goes too far, with some vandalism included, which results in mutual accusations within the club members. However that's just the beginning of more issues they encounter.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Bottoms" is, much like Olivia Wilde's "Booksmart", a fresh take on the high school experience, since it gravitates to a female point of view, with the added layer that its heroines are both gay and thankfully, quite unapologetic about it. It's a film that looks heads-on to the clichés of the high school comedy genre, and literally flips it, allowing for girls to take center stage, and be just as messy, horny, and with questionable decision making process, just like her male counterparts. With the slight difference, that these characters actually feel more relevant and authentic, more so than so many of the typical high school comedies. Both "Booksmart" and now "Bottoms" rest the architecture of their narrative on the dichotomy and yet complimentary traits of its central duo, and both also fail to address or give much for their supporting players to do, but in the case of "Bottoms" this fight club is both anarchic and quite funny, with plenty of physical comedy (brutal as well), thrown in for good measure. The script doesn't shy away from the awkwardness of these two best friends, and the fact that even though they're somewhat detached from reality at times, it still doesn't stop them from moving ahead with their plans (even if these plans take a life of their own it seems). All these pieces gel together, even if the film does adhere to some of the clichés, including the expected epiphany that their friendship was the glue keeping the club together, and that sometimes love does bloom where you least expect it. The cast is uniformly solid, easily playing off each other, particularly Rachel Sennot and Ayo Edebiri. The score from Charli XCX and Leo Birenberg is spot on, as is the cinematography from Maria Rusche. It's a funny film from a new directorial voice, worth following with attention. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-54160236776520572432024-03-09T20:22:00.006-05:002024-03-09T20:22:58.832-05:00Dark Harvest<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKoC43J-zMkGm8E67H8xJUYzQXRbvt6o5BbXCMM4ToDcOnXXUeZRLM-V2N3WsaUcEpiefMLL55sYH1voGr86hVJcfyL3h05vMhO6O1kaOUeRFpaPq9ppc8f5KG6v6sMQ_6ky8D93x92D21CpjpmXj_tbMqZd8Xrewly_12TEmgw9R8HvDBgqhntLmrNnO/s755/dark_harvest.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKoC43J-zMkGm8E67H8xJUYzQXRbvt6o5BbXCMM4ToDcOnXXUeZRLM-V2N3WsaUcEpiefMLL55sYH1voGr86hVJcfyL3h05vMhO6O1kaOUeRFpaPq9ppc8f5KG6v6sMQ_6ky8D93x92D21CpjpmXj_tbMqZd8Xrewly_12TEmgw9R8HvDBgqhntLmrNnO/s320/dark_harvest.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9204328/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dark Harvest</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">David Slade</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Casey Likes, Emyri Crutchfield, Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Reaser, Luke Kirby, Alejandro Akara, Austin Autry, Megan Best, Jake Brennan, Steven McCarthy, Britain Dalton, Ezra Buzzington</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama, Horror, Thriller</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 4<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.7f415139-039b-4d4b-8f12-3f2cbf8639ee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">David Slade who made a name for himself with a series of films in the mid 2000s, including "Hard Candy" and "30 Days of Night", has spent his time since then directing high profile TV shows, including the excellent "Hannibal", "American Gods" and "Black Mirror". "Dark Harvest" is an adaptation of the novel by Norman Partridge, and its narrative takes place in 1962 in a small rural town. There's a yearly ritual in that town where all teenage boys compete in an annual Halloween "Run". That event is an all out hunt for a creature that has been nicknamed Sawtooth Jack, who has to be caught and killed before reaching the local church (and before midnight as well). That current year, Jim Shepard kills the creature and is promptly celebrated as a local hero. He's given a check for $25,000.00 and a Chevrolet Corvette. As he takes his prizes, his younger brother Richie asks him to take him along on his journey, as he's about to leave town. The following year, everyone is getting prepared for the Run once more, with the exception of Richie, who is exempt as his family has already won. Richie however is determined to participate. As is part of the ritual, the teenage boys are locked in their rooms and starved for three days before being let loose on Halloween. When they do go loose, they usually run the streets with masks and a variety of weapons. Richie manages to sneak out and alongside his friends decides to pursue Sawtooth Jack. And while the creature kills two of his friends, it lets Richie escape. Richie soon finds Kelly, a young woman he's infatuated with, also on the run, and they go on the run trying to understand what's happening. They soon realize that not all is what it seems. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Dark Harvest" is an uneven film. David Slade has always been a director with a stylistic point of view, but one whose work speaks stronger when the script he's working with has more than just obvious horror themes. Essentially, the monsters he illustrates in his films are not your typical clichés. "Dark Harvest" however, and for most of the film's duration, has a very distinct M. Night Shyamalan vibe to it, with very heavy nods to "The Village", in the sense that there's a heavy sense of dread stemming from the community in which the action takes place, which is married with this sense all characters reinforce of "sacrifice for the greater good". As the film walks towards its climax, what's revealed isn't necessarily unexpected, but there's a continued sense of "is there something else". And that's where the film fails to ultimately deliver: while the main characters have echoes of Nicholas Ray's "Rebel without a Cause", this mix with the "Twilight Zone" angle never truly gels, and not because the narrative never expands upon the conspiracy theory or even what happens with Sawtooth Jack (and why), but mainly because the script feels undercooked. There's an array of interesting characters that are introduced, including Richie and Jim's parents, played by Jeremy Davies and Elizabeth Reaser, however they're not given much to do, the same going for the "Casey Kasem" master of ceremonies. The film, and the narrative itself, feels truncated, which ultimately makes the film feel unsatisfying. Jeremy Davies, Luke Kirby and Elizabeth Reaser create compelling characters, while most of the younger cast fails to register as credibly. Larry Smith's cinematography is solid, as is Brian Reitzell's score, Abby O'Sullivan's costumes and Patti Podesta's production design. It's a minor and forgettable endeavor from an interesting director. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-78408229142650729502024-03-09T19:27:00.001-05:002024-03-09T19:27:22.657-05:00X<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUPgHSHn5yPHlTrCQe-T4cuyUsHdBJqtN7qlZ-XyklEEbEU3Q-oWQR6Ugfkp6zKWgpRTDc4uGS74pWGR8jABn_EZILgGbI0Ydln5aD-wA7QSbl5JUb-TtD8qK0wJTAdyVOAfSh_ScBhYj59b7qxj995SFUjALEkVB3EW7AiyyuR2tkedMrHS3VQqZI7-3/s755/x_ver7.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUPgHSHn5yPHlTrCQe-T4cuyUsHdBJqtN7qlZ-XyklEEbEU3Q-oWQR6Ugfkp6zKWgpRTDc4uGS74pWGR8jABn_EZILgGbI0Ydln5aD-wA7QSbl5JUb-TtD8qK0wJTAdyVOAfSh_ScBhYj59b7qxj995SFUjALEkVB3EW7AiyyuR2tkedMrHS3VQqZI7-3/s320/x_ver7.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13560574/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">X</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2022<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ti West</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mia Goth, Martin Henderson, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Scott Mescudi, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, James Gaylyn, Geoff Dolan, Simon Prast</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama, Horror, Thriller</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 6<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.7f415139-039b-4d4b-8f12-3f2cbf8639ee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Ti West's "X" has its premiere at South by Southwest Film Festival in March of 2022, where it was greeted with good reviews, on its way to commence a trilogy of which the last film will premiere in 2024. The narrative focuses on a group of people who in 1979 get together to shoot a porn film. They decide to do so in a remote farm which they rent for the weekend in rural Texas. The group is comprised of adult-star wannabe Maxine, her producer boyfriend Wayne, Bobby-Lynne who quickly embarks on a fling with Jackson (a Marine Corps veteran), the director by the name of RJ, and Lorraine, RJ's shy girlfriend who assists with equipment and lighting. They rent a place from an elderly couple by the name of Howard and Pearl, though Howard disapproves of the group. As the group starts shooting the scenes separately, Maxine wanders off and decides to go for a swim in the small lake located on the property. She's observed with fascination by Pearl, who is drawn to her youth and beauty. She invites Maxine into her house, and makes a sexual advance towards her. The situation is cut short when Howard returns, which enables Maxine to quickly escape. As scenes continue to be shot, some tension also emerge within the group, which prompts RJ to leave while everyone is sleeping. However as he's trying to leave the property, Pearl is suddenly standing on the driveway, preventing him from leaving. When he tries to remove her, she attempts to seduce him, and upon his rejection she ferociously attacks him, killing him promptly. As others notice RJ missing, and they go looking for him, things start getting out of hand.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Much like "Pearl", Ti West and his creative team manage to bring this particular time period to life, and do so with the added layer and references of the 70s slasher film, but with a level of polish that makes this film that much more interesting to watch. The film benefits from the fact that is both unpretentious but also intelligent in its references, since it captures the atmosphere and type of character development associated with B-movies from the 70s and 80s (even some of the charismatic horror films from that time). Ti West also goes all in when it comes to the gore factor, which is where the film also becomes somewhat a bit more trivial, even if the film falls under the horror genre (at times, less can be more). The whole crescendo the writer/director manages to create with Pearl and Howard's relationship, and how that creeps (and literally bleeds) into a spiral of violence towards the sexually liberated group is quite effective, though the film does have a paltry character development overall. None of the characters get much of a chance to be expanded upon, though Pearl's narrative and arc does continue with the prequel Ti West shot immediately after this film. As it stands, this feature is an intelligent take on the slasher genre, peppering aspects of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights" with Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", with a bit of feminist vibe that makes that much more interesting and pertinent. The cast is uniformly solid, with Mia Goth taking center stage in the dual role of Maxine and Pearl, with good supporting turns from Martin Henderson, Jenna Ortega and Scott Mescudi. The production team is equally solid, with highlights going for Eliot Rockett's cinematography and Tom Hammock's production design. It may not be for everyone's palate, but it's worth watching. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-33524055241808766222024-03-02T10:43:00.008-05:002024-03-02T10:43:52.211-05:00Mortal Engines<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBF7BkSkPMkvFNF3ba5uWmUXN5ov9r-u5otstIwls5TKs7GIoDpKRGKJO5SarQpy71GOcZwPFabslNuKQ4lCe_HEGHgPJEAznVjzwQ_Sv7Ayep2hxHbUxcqMzrHA9xGgvAr9qEdZq1v3pZZnXwCPtdY6Kioi9USFHgz-c6KjC9JBMPNzIWX3zMOWRz7f-E/s755/mortal_engines_ver9.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBF7BkSkPMkvFNF3ba5uWmUXN5ov9r-u5otstIwls5TKs7GIoDpKRGKJO5SarQpy71GOcZwPFabslNuKQ4lCe_HEGHgPJEAznVjzwQ_Sv7Ayep2hxHbUxcqMzrHA9xGgvAr9qEdZq1v3pZZnXwCPtdY6Kioi9USFHgz-c6KjC9JBMPNzIWX3zMOWRz7f-E/s320/mortal_engines_ver9.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571234/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mortal Engines</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2018<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Christian Rivers</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, Stephen Lang, Colin Salmon, Mark Mitchinson, Rene-Jean Page, Menik Gooneratne, Frankie Adams, Andrew Lees, Leifur Sigurdarson</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Adventure, Fantasy</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 2<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DRQLV65" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Mortal Engines" is Christian Rivers's full feature directorial debut, after tackling a short and a segment of the anthology "Minutes Past Midnight". The film follows the adventures of Hester Shaw, a young woman in pursuit of revenge in a post apocalyptic world. The narrative takes place thousands of years in the future, where the planet is now populated with mobile cities. The city of London is one of the biggest and has been capturing smaller towns and settlements and absorbing its populations. Their goal is to take on a more static settlement that exist in Asia (what used to be China), which is protected by a "Shield Wall". Hester gets captured into the city of London, and there she meets Tom Natsworthy, an apprentice historian. Hester's focus is to exact revenge on Thaddeus Valentine, Head of the Guild of Historians, since he murdered her mother. Following a scuffle, Hester escapes the city, and Tom soon follows, as Thaddeus pushes him out of the city as well. Tom and Hester are forced to work together, but they're soon captured and are about to be sold as slaves until Anna Fang shows up and frees them (Anna turns out was a dear friend of Hester's mother). Thaddeus in the meantime seeks the help of a reanimated cyborg by the name of Shrike, in order to capture Hester, as Shrike raised her following the death of her mother. As Hester, Tom and Anna eventually regroup and head for the Shield Wall, they realize Thaddeus and the city of London is going to attack, with a secret weapon that only Hester can stop. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Mortal Engines" is part of a popular series of books by Philip Reeve, which has a steampunk vibe and aesthetic to it. Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh (the team behind the adaption of the "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" series) tackled this adaptation, leaving Christian Rivers with the responsibility of illustrating and bringing this world to life. Rivers who has a background in visual effects (he worked in all of Peter Jackson's films since "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"), sadly doesn't find a satisfactory way of moving past the clichés in which these characters operate, while at the same time the mediocre visual effects don't necessarily bring this post-apocalyptic world to life in a compelling manner. The narrative is set in motion very much like any young adult literary piece, where there's a central heroine who has trauma to overcome, and who eventually finds a romantic interest who becomes her accomplice in getting her agenda fulfilled. The problem with this film, aside from the fact that the characters are cardboard clichés, is the fact that the motivations for all of them are simplified to the point that they're almost non-existent. Even Hugo Weaving who is usually a compelling presence in any role he tackles, feels lost and missing a sense of purpose towards what his character is wanting to do and be (he comes across as a reluctant villain, being monstrous in one way, but also not so much, trying to be a docile and emotional father figure for other characters). Most of the supporting characters exist only as ammunition to the noise that is being portrayed, and the central characters, both Hester and Tom, are surprisingly shallow. The cast fails to bring much distinction and vitality to what is taking place. The production team is also a mixed bag, with the mediocre special effects becoming very apparent, though Tom Holkenborg's score is solid, the same going for Bob Ruck and Kate Hawley's costumes. It's a missed opportunity, considering the talent behind this adaptation. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-75332444233255184822024-03-02T09:52:00.001-05:002024-03-02T09:52:10.367-05:00The Holdovers<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi457kVhfYHVcmtsJ9VSRG8MG7mQVmgsqW-Tv_UJXU2FcxwEQvOogdd1k3efe22o5YFATHpToGt1a7x5kpILZhwU3oUHi5F5KRomx-F3XYqDK3NXFiDbYgFLfKc70MX67NM2ebF0ejDs7xjF-iGK_XHniWEsWXUpN6FNcy9AhE5iDGzYuBG5p7kfUDci1PP/s755/holdovers.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi457kVhfYHVcmtsJ9VSRG8MG7mQVmgsqW-Tv_UJXU2FcxwEQvOogdd1k3efe22o5YFATHpToGt1a7x5kpILZhwU3oUHi5F5KRomx-F3XYqDK3NXFiDbYgFLfKc70MX67NM2ebF0ejDs7xjF-iGK_XHniWEsWXUpN6FNcy9AhE5iDGzYuBG5p7kfUDci1PP/s320/holdovers.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name:</b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14849194/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Holdovers</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Alexander Payne</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Andrew Garman, Naheem Garcia, Stephen Thorne, Gillian Vigman, Tate Donovan, Darby Lee-Stack</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama, Comedy</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 7<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.05419aca-6c4d-4035-a9d6-adf6c9239882" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Director Alexander Payne is back, following the underrated "Downsizing". This time around the narrative takes place during Christmas season in 1970, and focuses itself on the character of Paul Hunham, a history teacher at Barton Academy, a New England boarding school. During that Christmas season most students go visit their families, save for a few that have stay due to some unexpected occurrences. Paul is tasked with overseeing the students who are staying around since he and the school's headmaster clashed over the passing grade of a particular student, son of a powerful donor. Also staying around is Mary Lamb, whose son Curtis, also attended the school, but has since been killed in the Vietnam war (he enrolled in the military in order to get access to college). Most of the students get a reprieve in the shape of one of the parents who shows up in a helicopter and takes most of them for a ski trip. This occurs save for Angus Tully, whose mother is on a honeymoon trip with her new husband, can't be reached and therefore the permission for him to also go isn't attained. Paul, Angus and Mary eventually get into a rhythm, with some mishaps in-between, but also manage to attend a party from one of Paul's colleagues, where Mary has a bit of an emotional meltdown. They eventually agree to go for a field trip to Boston, where some of their story becomes more visible to each other.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Alexander Payne always manages to effectively envelop the audience on the journeys their characters take. Most of his narratives are centered around flawed central characters, who nonetheless have layers of stories that bring these same characters to life, with both sentimentality and humor. With "The Holdovers" that becomes even more apparent as we learn more about the trio of central characters, starting off with Paul and his teaching journey at Barton, where we progressively understand the reasoning for why the school has become the sole main focus of his attention, much to the disregard of his personal life, including romantic relationships and family relationships. The same goes for Angus and his rebellious spirit and Mary and her pained existence. While Peter Weir's "Dead Poets Society" was a somewhat poetic interpretation of the power of teaching and how a particular person can be a catalyst for people to further understand their purpose, "The Holdovers" is a journey in healing, with these central characters realizing what they've constantly brushed aside, all the emotional blocking they've refused to address, and how this odd pairing manages to force these situations into the light of day, and in the process, forces them to address and eventually find a way to properly place them where they belong. It's a film that is filled with interesting details and great performances from the central trio, with a particular highlight going for Paul Giamatti who is always nothing short of extraordinary. The production team is equally impeccable, including Mark Orton's score, Eigil Bryld's cinematography, Jeremy Woolsey's production design and Wendy Chuck's costume design. While this isn't necessarily the most transformative feature to come from Alexander Payne's direction, it's nonetheless a solid film worth watching. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-83519816570006070662024-02-25T15:32:00.001-05:002024-02-25T15:32:19.987-05:00Good Time<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin57KfjH593pJVRljMOpYuzYa9Od9rSMUzL_yagQ-ONs9UkUV_tniRk_7hDVxcxpzIOQbube3ag00rNijilGVscbIA6zfDNrcLQDEiYO_jXlK7zJT93XhID9V8r0twIuDEge5tlcC61P1yH52gPuERrw3BhJ7758gt898Z69xIwky7pmYV4g8PU78P7Lx5/s755/good_time.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin57KfjH593pJVRljMOpYuzYa9Od9rSMUzL_yagQ-ONs9UkUV_tniRk_7hDVxcxpzIOQbube3ag00rNijilGVscbIA6zfDNrcLQDEiYO_jXlK7zJT93XhID9V8r0twIuDEge5tlcC61P1yH52gPuERrw3BhJ7758gt898Z69xIwky7pmYV4g8PU78P7Lx5/s320/good_time.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846232/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Good Time</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2017<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Buddy Duress, Taliah Webster, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Peter Verby, Necro, Barkhad Abdi, Eric Paykert, Rose Gregorio, Rachel Black</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Crime, Drama, Thriller</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 7<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074Q3DSRJ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">While Benny and Josh Safdie made a name for themselves with some very well received films such as "Daddy Longlegs" and "Heaven Knows What", "Good Time" is the film that finally expanded their features to a wider audience, propelling them to other features, such as "Uncut Gems", which was also met with rave reviews. "Good Time" follows the story of Connie Nikas, whom we first witness getting his brother Nick out of a court ordered therapy session. Nick has some cognitive challenges. The brothers rob a bank, however while they're making their escape in an Uber, the dye pack in the bag explodes, rendering the money unusable. They manage to wash the dye from their clothes but eventually get caught up with the police. While Connie manages to escape, Nick is sent to prison. While in prison Nick rapidly gets involved in a fight which results in a severe beating which sends him to the hospital. Connie in the meantime is desperately trying to find bond money, starting with his girlfriend, whose mother disapproves of their relationship. Connie goes to the hospital and manages to get a police-guarded patient out, whom he thinks is Nick. He manages to get help from another patient who was dropped at home, and plans to spend the night at that person's house, when much to his surprise, the person he helped escape is a man by the name of Ray. Ray recounts the story of his tribulations, and Connie figures out a plan of leveraging what happened with Ray in order to get the bail money he needs. However nothing is as simple as it seems.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">There's something quite visceral and also eerily reminiscent of the thrillers of the 1970s in this feature. There's a Sidney Lumet aspect to "Good Time" that makes it that much more endearing, though the Safdie brothers manage to carve out a very authentic piece of the small criminal world of New York, that is very much their own. The journey Connie goes through that one particular evening is very much like an Odyssey, where he has to handle unexpected challenges being thrown at him from all directions. The film manages to have a pulse and rhythm that are quite impressive, in the sense that it feels realistic in its depiction of the characters whose lives are being illustrated, but also in the sense that the film-makers time the events of the narrative to this nightly excursion, and do so almost in real time. The cast is uniformly solid, with Robert Pattinson solidly bringing Connie to life, the same going for Jennifer Jason Leigh and Buddy Duress. However the great revelation from the cast is Benny Safdie playing Nick, who truly gives that particular character an authenticity in his reactions, which includes a sense of genuine bewilderment and constant sense of inadequacy to the events that are occurring in his life (alongside the sense of generally being lost and overwhelmed by life in general). The production team is equally fantastic, including the fantastic score from Oneohtrix Point Never and cinematography from Sean Price Williams. It's a riveting film, one that could have benefited from character expansion, but that is nonetheless impeccably crafted. Worth watching. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-53925388178899555082024-02-18T14:11:00.003-05:002024-02-18T14:11:53.214-05:00Badland Hunters<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO9CrsCRSY88Sq2AZZQCPjNyGfp3fiM9O3xDd2PYq3gzpsJeH3LOkfLN_HZW1up95ZmMgolyqXQhVSQvzHWlodMzc4Y849a4opq_39tfPM5ff0h2hUMYO-Lyg5egiUREMUJ2dC1mT9eccpEsJnN1ZgrQ3j3qu4od21aKo9vv5Jyf-ypt-4xzbVtrzuMO4/s1482/badland_hunters.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO9CrsCRSY88Sq2AZZQCPjNyGfp3fiM9O3xDd2PYq3gzpsJeH3LOkfLN_HZW1up95ZmMgolyqXQhVSQvzHWlodMzc4Y849a4opq_39tfPM5ff0h2hUMYO-Lyg5egiUREMUJ2dC1mT9eccpEsJnN1ZgrQ3j3qu4od21aKo9vv5Jyf-ypt-4xzbVtrzuMO4/s320/badland_hunters.jpeg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29722855/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Badland Hunters</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2024<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Heo Myeong Haeng</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ma Dong-seok, No Jeong-ee, Ahn Ji-hye, Lee Jun-young, Kim Young-sun, Andrew Grace, Lee Hee-joon, Roh Jeong-eui</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Adventure</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 4<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81721676" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Netflix</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Netflix continues its constant output of various films, this time around the focus in on the South Korean feature directorial debut from Heo Myeong Haeng, himself an actor for films such as "Oldboy" from Park Chan-wook. The film takes place in Seoul, following a devastating earthquake which decimates a large part of the population. The survivors are trying their best to stay alive and live in refuge camps. Water is scarce, and the same goes for food in general. In one of those camps, Nam San and Choi, try their best at making a living by selling whatever food supplies they can. Choi has a long standing infatuation with Han Su-na, who mostly stays to herself and takes care of her grandmother. Life on the camp is disrupted when a female recruiter, alongside a few assistants comes over and explains that there's an apartment complex still standing, where they have potable water and where other amenities are available. The complex however is limited to adolescents and children, alongside their families. Han Su-na gets recruited, and soon gets separated from her grandmother. Upon arrival at the complex, she notices a series of weird occurrences, all the while her grandmother is nowhere to be seen. In the meantime Nam San and Choi learn through Lee Eun-ho, a former military officer and known to Nam San, that deadly experiments are being conducted at the complex, and that Han Su-na is in great danger. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Badland Hunters" is yet another post-apocalyptic film, this time around not focused on zombies, but opting instead for the "weird experiments" angle. It's a film where the dynamics of the opposing forces are quickly established, but where the characters are very thinly constructed. Not much background is given about the characters, or how they even know each other, however, the film's purpose is mostly to focus on the journey of the friends in tackling the apartment complex, and the action scenes that ensue. As a result, there isn't much to say about these characters, or even the plot itself, aside from the fact that both the narrative structure and characters are very much built upon well known archetypes and situations. It's not a particularly original film or premise, but manages to be watchable thanks to the charisma of its performers, particularly the always great Ma Dong-seok (who was also a compelling presence in "Train to Busan"). The production team is competent, making the post-apocalyptic world feel somewhat authentic and with some credibility (definitely with some inspirations from George Miller's "Mad Max" universe). While not particularly original and fairly limited on its premise, it's still a watchable feature. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-48260366602217393362024-02-18T13:24:00.008-05:002024-02-18T13:24:59.106-05:00Thanksgiving<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1olSWI5_lhsh01ksp34mMcQHpR8DVKJ6qyPmTpfR_QiihbY399y-kb09RG9OUYGaiqo5RTFwxRaH6_hIVfd8iRcKEFev1sh74IYMhMhU_4fMu5v495_RUg6UrUBYmn2tFkQGN0TBtoFt8oh2NbuLC56kOXoqN7cqES7kMkGH-O6gAN4QafUbA2xHMqyt/s755/thanksgiving_ver4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="604" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1olSWI5_lhsh01ksp34mMcQHpR8DVKJ6qyPmTpfR_QiihbY399y-kb09RG9OUYGaiqo5RTFwxRaH6_hIVfd8iRcKEFev1sh74IYMhMhU_4fMu5v495_RUg6UrUBYmn2tFkQGN0TBtoFt8oh2NbuLC56kOXoqN7cqES7kMkGH-O6gAN4QafUbA2xHMqyt/s320/thanksgiving_ver4.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1448754/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thanksgiving</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Eli Roth</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Patrick Dempsey, Nell Verlaque, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Addison Rae, Chris Sandiford, Tomaso Sanelli, Gina Gershon, Ty Olsson, Karen Cliche, Rick Hoffman, Derek McGrath, Katherine Trowell, Mike Amonsen, Amanda Barker, Shailyn Griffin, Tim Dillon, Milo Manheim, James Goldman, Yusuf Zine, Russell Yuen, Jeff Teravainen, Jordan Poole, Joe Delfin, Dorian Giordano, Joseph Claude Dubois, Frank J. Zupancic</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Horror, Mystery</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 5<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.8cca5a26-ee50-4661-b919-b5a5b17bb74b" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Eli Roth has had a diverse career since making a name for himself with "Cabin Fever" and the "Hostel" series (the latter of which started a trend at the time named "Torture Porn"). He has also ventured into acting, as was the case of his performance in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards". "Thanksgiving" is actually inspired by the short fake trailer for the "Grindhouse" film Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez released in 2007. The film follows the story of Jessica Wright, a high school senior in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Jessica's father owns a local store called RightMart, and after Thanksgiving, the entire population it seems, is desperate to get into the store for the Black Friday sale. Jessica and her boyfriend Bobby, alongside a few of their friends manage to get in early, through a side door, which heightens the frenzy of people waiting, who witness them doing so. A stampede quickly ensues, resulting in something close to a riot in the store, resulting in multiple deaths. A year later, the store is getting ready for another Black Friday sale, even though there are multiple protests against it. However, multiple people involved in the riot at the store in the prior year, start being targeted and killed in particularly horrifying manners. Jessica aids the investigation by providing some of the footage of the riot to the town's sheriff. As more people get killed and abducted, the police set a trap by placing Jessica and her family as bait during the Thanksgiving parade. However things don't go according to plan. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">One of the best things about Eli Roth, is his economical way of showcasing a narrative, and the characters that inhabit it. He's very much deft at putting a polished B-movie spin on his best features. This one is no exception. He quickly creates the set up for the action that is about to take place, and populates the narrative with an inventory of characters where any of them can possibly be the lethal killer. What is less engaging on this narrative is of course the fact that most of these characters are threadbare developed, without much to them essentially, aside of the fact they all embody a type (the cheerleader, the jock, the trophy second wife, and the list goes on). Of course Eli Roth knows the rules of creating this type of device, and he also plays with it. Therefore the film moves efficiently, without being particularly original, but emphasizing the particularly brutal death scenes for the characters. The cast is a bit all over the place, with Nell Verlaque leading the group, but with the memorable roles going to Rick Hoffman and the underrated Ty Olsson. The production is solid, with highlights going to Milan Chadima's cinematography, Brandon Roberts' score and Peter Mihaichuk's production design. It's not a particularly memorable endeavor, but it's a watchable film. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-18881880957313289432024-02-11T18:14:00.002-05:002024-02-11T18:14:50.517-05:00My Friend Dahmer<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt2k62_cY6P_kJaiue7N7ZXgcnvuG7rFGQy8HscyvPKDO-PQpTf0IJ-dX8AzC7ASp6U2sAQUM0E7qWRorFGAD7vb5bvfYwZv_sIvKVGE1JUUslnuw8Y7IMDbUtZTDkaBUr_OdtdQrbXyV38FTp2T1ZfOFrh1smrt6m2kehZ9M5QFq9SrRXXUXC4Emjxu1f/s1481/myfriend.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1481" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt2k62_cY6P_kJaiue7N7ZXgcnvuG7rFGQy8HscyvPKDO-PQpTf0IJ-dX8AzC7ASp6U2sAQUM0E7qWRorFGAD7vb5bvfYwZv_sIvKVGE1JUUslnuw8Y7IMDbUtZTDkaBUr_OdtdQrbXyV38FTp2T1ZfOFrh1smrt6m2kehZ9M5QFq9SrRXXUXC4Emjxu1f/s320/myfriend.jpeg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2291540/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Friend Dahmer</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2017<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Marc Meyers</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff, Anne Heche, Vincent Kartheiser, Tommy Nelson, Harrison Holzer, Dallas Roberts, Miles Robbins, Liam Koeth, Cameron McKendry, Tom Luce, Nancy Telzerow, Dave Sorboro</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 6<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.96b0abf8-0882-9dda-b85e-88266afa4d1a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">"My Friend Dahmer" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival of 2017, where it was met with warm reviews, on its way to do a very robust run through most of Fall/Winter festivals of that year (it also made appearances at the BFI London Film Festival and the Deauville Film Festival to name but a few). The narrative focuses on the life of teenager Jeffrey Dahmer, who in 1974 is a high school freshman living in Bath, Ohio. We witness his family dynamics with his parents and younger brother, and his fascination with collecting dead animals, and the experiments he does with them. A few years later and now a high school senior, Jeffrey who typically flies under the radar, catches the attention of a few colleagues, when he imitates the speech and gestures of one os his mother's friends, who has cerebral palsy (an Interior Designer friends with his mom Joyce). He becomes a bit of a class clown, known for his fearlessness in portraying people with disabilities and for illustrating people with erratic behavior, which charms some of his high school colleagues, who even form a "Dahmer Fan Club". On the home front, things are disintegrating for Jeffrey, whose mother has a chronic mental illness that starts bleeding off into her relationship with his father, with frequent arguments taking place. Jeffrey starts drinking more and more, and in the meantime he also becomes obsessed with a jogger he sees frequently near his house. He starts stalking him with a baseball bat, but never attacks him. In the meantime, Jeffrey graduates, while his mom takes his younger brother Dave to live with relatives in Wisconsin, leaving him alone at home.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">The number of films and TV series focused on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer have been steadily increasing. David Jacobson's "Dahmer" was a good showcase for Jeremy Renner playing the title role, and since then "Raising Jeffrey Dahmer" directed by Rich Ambler, and in particular the highly successful "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" miniseries from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan (featuring Evan Richards in the title role), have kept the name of this infamous individual in the public consciousness. "My Friend Dahmer" opts for a different approach when it comes to the story of this individual/character: it tracks his teenage years, and how he progressively morphed into the person who would soon become a well known killer. The director successfully illustrates how Jeffrey is perpetually in a world of his own, even when surrounded by others who try to embrace and celebrate his idiosyncrasies. He comes across as someone alienated from the world, and mostly fascinated by nefarious experiences with animals (dead and alive), married with a pulsating desire for men and to also perform clinical experiences with them. The film walks a fine line between capturing a nuanced psychological portrait of this individual and also giving into the more gratuitous aspect of portraying his violent acts (which the director smartly refrains from doing so). While Jeffrey captures the lion share of screen time and attention, the supporting cast gets very little to do in the film. For instance, the fan club devoted to Jeffrey, and in particular its members, could have benefited from having some additional screen time or at least more scenes capturing their interactions with him, but aside from a particularly tense moment towards the end of the film with Alex Wolff's Derf character, it's all rather bland. The same thing happens with the way his family life is illustrated: not much attention is given to it, or to Jeffrey's relationship with his parents. The cast is uniformly solid, with Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff, Anne Heche and Dallas Roberts all crafting solid performances. The production team is equally solid, featuring the cinematography from Daniel Katz, production design from Jennifer Klide, and costumes from Carla Shivener. It's a subdued film worth watching. </div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-37240423559219486852024-02-11T16:42:00.001-05:002024-02-11T16:42:11.993-05:00Cube<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEE3yPqY8JGwbznG5fM2Z4h_eCYcfEFwTTNKNYAOIHKhopJC4SkLXSIlN04hweyEGlNWxMlkLuwDvqpFhcDj5mt_auZVDfCcwf_Au2sQL0GvQ22Nr-JmujRUXYDqy41owhaVnXK7lQL-q1xUu0Q41Lwe2jwfE6w6AzZfVVl3VoQ3an2bk78-cBp2-GWZh9/s755/cube_ver2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEE3yPqY8JGwbznG5fM2Z4h_eCYcfEFwTTNKNYAOIHKhopJC4SkLXSIlN04hweyEGlNWxMlkLuwDvqpFhcDj5mt_auZVDfCcwf_Au2sQL0GvQ22Nr-JmujRUXYDqy41owhaVnXK7lQL-q1xUu0Q41Lwe2jwfE6w6AzZfVVl3VoQ3an2bk78-cBp2-GWZh9/s320/cube_ver2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cube</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 1997<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Vincenzo Natali</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Nicky Guadagni, Wayne Robson, Julian Richings</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mystery, Horror</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 6<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.eca9f79e-5693-1579-da81-e3caee4812b6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Cube" was writer/director Vincenzo Natali's feature directorial debut, which premiered at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival on its way to receiving considerable critical accolades, and being a staple for quite a variety of Film Festivals during 97/98 (it went to the Sundance Film Festival of 1998, but also graced the Berlin Film Festival, to name but a few). The film follows the narrative of 6 characters all of whom are strangers to each other and who individually wake up to find themselves inside a prison of sorts, where all the rooms are in the shape of a square, and have a series of gates to move towards another room. Everyone soon finds out some of these rooms have lethal traps. The group is comprised of a police officer by the name of Quentin, a doctor by the name of Holloway, a student by the name of Leaven, a somewhat mysterious man by the name of Worth, and they're soon joined by an escape artist named Rennes and an autistic gentleman by the name of Kazan. While Rennes wants to move forward with his plan of getting out of the cube, he's soon killed by one of the traps from one of the rooms. Leaven in the meantime finds out that each passage between the rooms has numbers imprinted and there's a code associated with them (related to prime numbers). Those that are indeed identified as prime numbers are safe rooms, whereas the others are not. While the group is initially very collaborative, even if suspicious of each other, as time progresses, and they become more and more frustrated, their violence towards each other also starts bubbling to the surface. Leaven in the meantime thinks she can guide the group to one of the rooms closer to the outside of the platform, so they can finally be liberated, while Holloway believes all the events to be part of a massive Government conspiracy. Worth suspiciously keeps his opinions to himself, until he finally reveals what he knows to the group.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">One of the most interesting things about "Cube" is the claustrophobic environment the director manages to create throughout the entire duration of the narrative. The fact that everyone is unaware of why they've been caught, and what are the rules for getting out of the prison, remain pretty much one of the great mysteries of this narrative. The film for all intended purposes feels like a "Twilight Zone" episode, only without Rod Serling's narration, and without an epilogue that smoothly closes what just took place. The film is also a keen observation on the disintegration of people's best and more acceptable social behaviors, since as the threat remains constant, but their closeness to death increases, more of the characters' primal survival instincts come to the forefront (and some of their darker behaviors also make an appearance). The film feels very much like a slick B-movie, and considering it's small budget, it smartly leverages the claustrophobic stance of the prison (and the effective production design that brought it to life), to put these characters through considerable challenges. Where the film does miss out is on the character development, since all these characters are rather archetypes without much nuance or detail that illustrates who they actually are, and even in how they relate to each other. The acting within the group is also a bit all over the place, but the production team is effective, including Derek Rogers' cinematography and Jasna Stefanovic's production design. It's an interesting and worth watching film from a director who has gone on to create some interesting features. </div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-42785438994122285122024-02-04T17:01:00.004-05:002024-02-04T17:01:55.829-05:00Minari<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFkbFL_NcL8Y5ivAc5mdPO3tvSoVLEbPa2RAjfEAk4OCwISO9M27SdVh4s3jumC7JkNmyiWkBlcnEnv4tjTs0nsfplcPhdTO0Q19fOTh0JlzONJMYom-MH4hIl9OSAuVyQhkLb7Qnvjn1voT21ezxWqtx97Qu058Fgrjim-uORvO_t5NeeOZWMYwC0Kn8/s755/minari_ver2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFkbFL_NcL8Y5ivAc5mdPO3tvSoVLEbPa2RAjfEAk4OCwISO9M27SdVh4s3jumC7JkNmyiWkBlcnEnv4tjTs0nsfplcPhdTO0Q19fOTh0JlzONJMYom-MH4hIl9OSAuVyQhkLb7Qnvjn1voT21ezxWqtx97Qu058Fgrjim-uORvO_t5NeeOZWMYwC0Kn8/s320/minari_ver2.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10633456/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Minari</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2020<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Lee Isaac Chung</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Noel Cho, Youn Yuh-jung, Will Patton, Ben Hall, Eric Starkey, Darryl Cox, Esther Moon, Scott Haze</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 7<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.ccbba128-8c1d-7a0a-10e6-89781f5dba41" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Minari" made a splash when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2020, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. Of course it then went on to be nominated for 6 Academy Awards (though this in itself is no longer an indication of anything), amongst a string of other awards that it collected during the year (it almost reminds me of the string of awards the film "Coda" also won, and strangely enough, no one ever talks about that film just a few years later). The film takes place in 1983 and focuses on a Korean family who moves from California to a plot of land they've purchased in the Arkansas area. They move into a mobile home stationed in the property, and the father hopes to sell Korean produce to vendors in Dallas. Friction starts emerging when Jacob (the father) dismisses the services of a water diviner, and decides to dig a well on a spot he randomly chooses. That well soon dries up. He manages to secure the help of Korean War veteran by the name of Paul, to start working on the crops. In order to keep money coming in, Jacob and his wife Monica work in a hatchery, but Monica is increasingly unhappier with the situation, and concerned with the children, including David, their son who has a congenital heart issue. In order to help with the children, Monica arranges for her mom, Soon-ja, to travel from South Korea. Soon-ja's relationship with the children is initially quite difficult, and she has some challenges adjusting to life in the US. As the challenges mount, the strain on the relationship between Jacob and Monica also escalates. Things become more complicated when Soon-ja suffers a stroke, which impacts her speech and movement. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">Prior to the release of "Minari", Lee Isaac Chung had already directed 4 features all of which met some critical acclaim, but nothing like the universal applause that "Minari" achieved (and that has opened different doors for him, since he has gone on to direct episodes of Disney's "The Mandalorian" and has a new version of Jan de Bont's "Twister" coming up soon). The most interesting thing about "Minari" is in fact how authentic it attempts to be in depicting the tribulations and challenges a Korean family faces, particularly tackling a situation they're not familiar with, within a country where they're also strangers. The writer/director manages to give enough space for the characters to interact, and in doing so allows us to get to know more about their hopes, dreams, fears and ambitions. These relationships are woven very organically and very naturally. The family's core feels imminently real, including the relationships with the children and the grandmother, even if for her the reality she's dropped on is even more remote and alien to her habits. This microcosms of their existence is perfectly captured. Where there seems to be a bit of a loss of grit and veracity is the actual environment in which these characters actually live. The farming, the environment in which these characters exist lacks texture, and almost an identity in itself. Farming is a challenge, an all too consuming activity, and the film fails to illustrate that properly and how that significantly impacts the lives of people who choose to make a living from it. There's almost a disconnect between the staging of the relationships between these characters and the environment in which they exist (one feels more authentic than the other). The cast is fantastic, with Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Noel Cho and Will Patton all excelling in their roles. The production team is equally solid, with highlights going to Lachlan Milne's cinematography, Yong Ok Lee's production design and Susanna Song's costumes. A solidly told narrative from an interesting and emerging talent. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-62082962777672091302024-02-04T16:00:00.002-05:002024-02-04T16:00:21.099-05:00Look Away<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYQHkSNz7Tm9fJyuRk_JMzZ6-rAFQU8GOA4nAocBNGfXcM9QS4WG3nSx5hE_oUWeC1nwXUOXnVTXMnmzTIvqq8Hnm5Tlr6I67z9j4qji0L6i2GnNGcB5-eh_si-vRcQyE6uN2_Jt5vavYvmA4RRnEa4XjBWykZ1DCqEDHW1UZYjHLh5d8-MWEhGAytn6C/s755/look_away.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYQHkSNz7Tm9fJyuRk_JMzZ6-rAFQU8GOA4nAocBNGfXcM9QS4WG3nSx5hE_oUWeC1nwXUOXnVTXMnmzTIvqq8Hnm5Tlr6I67z9j4qji0L6i2GnNGcB5-eh_si-vRcQyE6uN2_Jt5vavYvmA4RRnEa4XjBWykZ1DCqEDHW1UZYjHLh5d8-MWEhGAytn6C/s320/look_away.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834760/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Look Away</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2018<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Assaf Bernstein</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">India Eisley, Jason Isaacs, Mira Sorvino, Penelope Mitchell, Harrison Gilbertson, John C. MacDonald, Kristen Harris</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama, Horror</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 1<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.c0b310cf-d84c-c8e3-98da-59f82e81a330" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Writer/director Assaf Bernstein made a name for himself with the film "The Debt", which ended being remade by John Madden in 2010 with a stellar cast, which included Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain. Since then he has devoted time to TV shows, with "Look Away" being his proper sophomore directorial effort. The film follows the story of 17 year old Maria Brennan, who is a high school student, with a less than harmonious family life and very few friends. She is bullied in high school, something she also keeps from her parents. Surprisingly she starts noticing and starts interacting with the reflection of herself in the bathroom mirror. This reflection of herself however bears a much stronger personality, and lures her with promises of being able to make her life better. After a particularly crushing high school prom, where she gets publicly humiliated, Maria decides to accept the reflection's help, and they "switch" places. The new Maria stands up to her bullies, and also unveils some harsh realities to her mom regarding some of her father's behaviors. This new version of Maria becomes increasingly daring, with violent behaviors which result in some accidents and deaths. As the body count increases, more about Maria's birth also comes into light, explaining her apparent duality of behaviors. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">There really isn't much to say about this film in all honesty. Assaf Bernstein poorly illustrates a rather pedestrian version of David Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers" (of sorts), but goes for the shock value and not for subtlety when it comes to the characters that populate this narrative. These pseudo twins, who are the center of the storyline, and who have very distinct personalities, bring to mind certain aspects of Barbet Schroeder's "Single White Female" (mostly the psychotic behavior Jennifer Jason Leigh embodied so well), but as the body count increases, the questions as to what exactly universe these characters live in becomes more and more puzzling. Maria and her evil twin, Airam (get it, it's Maria backwards), even though they're center stage of this feature, are surprisingly shallow in terms of character development. Maria is bullied, though we never really understand why. And Airam who also borrows/models some of her behavior from Lara Flynn Boyle's character in Tom Holland's "The Temp" or even from Linda Fiorentino's character in John Dahl's "The Last Seduction", seems to have forgotten that this isn't another episode of "Poison Ivy", and that the character in order to actually be edgy has to do more than squint her eyes or chase others on ice skates. The writer/director also throws in a variety of nightmares that afflict Maria's mom, in order to fully portray this reality as a dark one, but as most of the plot points in this film, it's both lackluster and undercooked (as are the incestuous hints that permeate throughout the film). Everything seems to be thrown into this broth, including all clichés that anyone can think of when it comes to high school tropes (though even those are not that greatly illustrated). This confection doesn't work, and the sole highlight for this film is Jason Isaacs who is a solid actor and definitely deserves better. This is just a film to avoid. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-90971219322359831252024-01-28T13:42:00.004-05:002024-01-28T13:42:51.353-05:00La Sociedad de la Nieve/Society of the Snow<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrTIUheeofiqCQkx8AXP66YiX6xt9xx6RhyphenhyphenwX-6j95bcGA8m0nFQt4JqybOJ1o7qJNeGKTZ1J-m-giGsASibg6j_6RWCnfA-fHT65BGIg8w-58vO5Djsr6u6yXBtx3xCOyphFEKghqbMXArj1cS4KGUw5HkK6EE88bz93NXAaBQjpfHsGJbyCXIZ9vMGc/s755/la_sociedad_de_la_nieve_ver2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrTIUheeofiqCQkx8AXP66YiX6xt9xx6RhyphenhyphenwX-6j95bcGA8m0nFQt4JqybOJ1o7qJNeGKTZ1J-m-giGsASibg6j_6RWCnfA-fHT65BGIg8w-58vO5Djsr6u6yXBtx3xCOyphFEKghqbMXArj1cS4KGUw5HkK6EE88bz93NXAaBQjpfHsGJbyCXIZ9vMGc/s320/la_sociedad_de_la_nieve_ver2.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16277242/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">La Sociedad de la Nieve/Society of the Snow</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">J.A. Bayona</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Enzo Vogrincic, Agustin Pardella, Matias Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi, Fernando Contingiani, Esteban Kukuriczka, Francisco Romero, Rafael Federman, Valentina Alonso, Tomas Wolf, Agustin Della Corte, Andy Pruss, Felipe Gonzalez Otano, Blas Polidori, Felipe Ramusio, Simon Hempe, Luciano Chatton</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 7<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81268316" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Netflix</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Netflix has scored another awards contender in the shape of "La Sociedad de la Nieve", the latest film from director J.A. Bayona, who previously tackled "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" and "A Monster Calls". The film is an adaptation of the book by Pablo Vierci, but it is essentially the same narrative tackled by Frank Marshall in his film "Alive", which premiered in 1993 (with "Alive" being based on the book by Piers Paul Read, featuring a screenplay by the celebrated John Patrick Shanley). The film which takes place in 1972, follows the narrative of a group of friends who are part of the Uruguayan rugby team. They're on a flight to Chile, however when going over the Andes the plane crashes. Some of the passengers though hurt, manage to survive, and some are actually unharmed. While they figure that rescue parties are going to be sent after them, they soon realize that due to their location and the surrounding snow, the chances for them to be detected are very limited. As the days and weeks progress, and as their rations wither, they are confronted with the difficult choice of eating some of the dead passengers who have been preserved in ice, if they want to survive. A few of the stronger survivors eventually decide to climb the mountains and seek out rescue, at the risk of their own demise.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">"La Sociedad de la Nieve" is a riveting and compelling retelling of a well known narrative, this time around with a cast that feels closer to its original authentic survivors. J.A. Bayona successfully manages to depict the violence of the natural elements, and the despair the survivors are going through, as they watch their friends and loved ones pass away, and they themselves progressively wither close to nothing. It is a narrative that is very much anchored on this survival mode the characters have to adopt, all the while highlighting the closeness, the ties all these individuals shape in order to possibly survive such a dire situation. The characters themselves are brief sketches, but their interaction manage to illustrate the complicity and tenderness that exists between all these young men. It's a film that lives from the herculean challenge these individuals face, not just from nature itself, but also from the choices they have to make in order to survive. It's also a solid testimony to human nature's resilience and quest for survival, something J.A. Bayona perfectly captures, even as the situation becomes increasingly more dire and difficult (and the claustrophobic shots are perfectly captured).</div><div style="margin: 0px;">The cast is uniformly solid, with highlights going to <span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Enzo Vogrincic, Agustin Pardella and Matias Recalt. The production team is equally impressive, including Pedro Luque's cinematography, Alain Bainee's production design and Julio Suarez's costume design. An entertaining and well crafted feature, from an underrated and solid film maker. </span></div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-27284296541376975682024-01-27T20:11:00.003-05:002024-01-27T20:11:30.665-05:00A Haunting in Venice<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcr5s8KFfFmo-cQCwd57xHhwirwSfrtpjEslgT0NgW9xtJ3fwrL9NdIGJKxz-wBM1sHEjtyUePHUvDy7yO3n-BFLZBy6qnIVTupUMnuc_N6Z2u7h3YMvUuxefW3j3a9ohg8-BhHqj9KrLzDPKtSRMR8EMoWkAuz5LJ9U1JY8fs8A9Jbvc6_LOj0nX2t03/s755/haunting_in_venice_ver2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcr5s8KFfFmo-cQCwd57xHhwirwSfrtpjEslgT0NgW9xtJ3fwrL9NdIGJKxz-wBM1sHEjtyUePHUvDy7yO3n-BFLZBy6qnIVTupUMnuc_N6Z2u7h3YMvUuxefW3j3a9ohg8-BhHqj9KrLzDPKtSRMR8EMoWkAuz5LJ9U1JY8fs8A9Jbvc6_LOj0nX2t03/s320/haunting_in_venice_ver2.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22687790/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Haunting in Venice</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Kenneth Branagh</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Reilly, Camille Cottin, Jude Hill, Riccardo Scamarcio, Amir El-Masry, Fernando Piloni, Rowan Robinson, Emma Laird, Vanessa Ifediora, Kyle Allen, Ali Khan</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Crime, Drama</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 6<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.3ada32b9-d34f-4627-8da6-aea74b530c5c" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Actor, producer, director Kenneth Branagh has returned with another tome in the series of Agatha Christie adaptions he has been tackling since 2017. This time around, he and his screenwriter partner Michael Green adapt the novel Hallowe'en Party, originally published in 1969, and reposition it as a ghost story taking place in Venice. The narrative once again focuses on Hercule Poirot, whom we find living in Venice, retired in 1947. His peaceful retirement is challenged when mystery writer Ariadne Oliver convinces Poirot to attend a séance at the palazzo of a famed opera singer by the name of Rowena Drake. Ariadne wants to unmask Joyce Reynolds, a former army nurse, turned famed medium, as a fraud. The palazzo is believed to be haunted, since it was previously an orphanage where children were locked and abandoned when the city dealt with plague. The opera singer wants to communicate with her recently deceased daughter (she apparently has committed suicide). The guests include Maxime Gerard (the former fiancé of Rowena's daughter), family doctor Leslie Ferrier and his son Leopold, and Joyce's assistant, Desdemona. While the séance initially impresses everyone witnessing it, Poirot soon realizes the mechanics behind it, exposing Joyce and what turns out to be two assistants who rigged the place. Things however take a darker turn, and Joyce is killed, while Poirot himself is victim of a murder attempt. Poirot decides to lock up the palazzo (with the assistance of his bodyguard), and investigate how Joyce's murder took place. As it turns out, everyone has connections with each other, that were not as apparent as they may have seen. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">Unlike his two prior adaptions of Agatha Christie novels, Kenneth Branagh manages to create a chilling and darker atmosphere with "A Haunting in Venice", toying the audience with the concept of a possible ghost story that may finally be a foible for Poirot's unbeatable pragmatism and logic. For the most part of its narrative, the director does manage to illustrate a claustrophobic and ominous atmosphere, something that the production design and location itself greatly enhances. Some of the issues with the film itself lie with the fact that the characters have very little human tissue to them, aside from the one-line descriptions that summarize/introduce them. There's more to uncover from all these characters and their motivations, but sadly the duration and structure of the film isn't focused on these developments. Poirot himself is coincidentally the character that comes across as a far more dimensional and compelling presence, as Kenneth Branagh portrays him as someone who wants to be away from the attention of prying eyes, someone who feels exhausted and wants to enjoy his retirement (a bit like someone who is recovering from war wounds). The whole aspect of "who did it" is equally well built out, and the film doesn't falter from the expected Poirot process and final reveal, but the real winning hand is the diverse and effective cast Kenneth Branagh brings together. Possibly less packed with flashy stars as the previous adaptations, this feature manages to give Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan and the always underrated Kelly Reilly, interesting characters to play. The production team is equally solid, including the cinematography from Haris Zambarloukos, score from Hildur Gudnadottir, production design from John Paul Kelly and costume design by Sammy Sheldon. While not necessarily a fresh take on Agatha Christie's material, it's nonetheless a film worth watching. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-26880709565786191612024-01-21T12:05:00.002-05:002024-01-21T12:05:27.525-05:00Role Play<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_46DMZ-09QmjtjEZCSnsyxY65UqPOSD-7oXjp49fO6ST_Us7KpiMeM8Phyphenhyphen1mYYqJ7tdVkEHkFHO8kH0uoLYLHClh_-cW0BYaygHlWes8xaX2QmNNbWnVQSiNy7WJGZHKHPEEflHuMbiEPIFBCffYWCMSTubdR40yrIUyPwoQpi-UEzsPjC-dECHasE9TF/s755/role_play.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_46DMZ-09QmjtjEZCSnsyxY65UqPOSD-7oXjp49fO6ST_Us7KpiMeM8Phyphenhyphen1mYYqJ7tdVkEHkFHO8kH0uoLYLHClh_-cW0BYaygHlWes8xaX2QmNNbWnVQSiNy7WJGZHKHPEEflHuMbiEPIFBCffYWCMSTubdR40yrIUyPwoQpi-UEzsPjC-dECHasE9TF/s320/role_play.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12964320/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Role Play</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Thomas Vincent</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Kaley Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Bill Nighy, Connie Nielsen, Rudi Dharmalingam, Lucia Aliu, Regan Bryan-Gudgeon, Simon Delaney, Sonita Henry, Jade Dregorius</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Romance</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 2<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.0e68bba6-603f-4643-b87e-43109a5be77b" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Another release from Amazon's Prime Video platform, this is another take, hot on the heels of my prior review for Tate Taylor's "Ava", on the life of a female hired assassin whose life starts to unravel. Apparently hired assassin is a hot topic on Linkedin or something. The narrative for this film focuses on Emma Brackett, who is a lethal hired killer, but who also maintains a more sedate facade on her day to day life as a suburban mom in New Jersey. Emma is married to Dave, and they both share two young children. Emma justifies her constant traveling (for her killing assignments) as requirements from her job, which demands her to go to Iowa, and other locales in the midwest. When she misses her wedding anniversary, she and Dave decide to spruce things up, and do some role playing in NY, which includes booking a hotel room, and generally playing sexy with each other. However things take a different turn, when Bob Kellerman, an older gentleman interferes, and he turns out to be another hired assassin trailing Emma. Emma as it turns out, used to work for a highly specialized agency, and they really want her back in their ranks. And they'll stop at nothing to do so, including bringing Dave and the kids into the game.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">While Tate Taylor's "Ava" tried to bring some drama to the life of a hired assassin, director Thomas Vincent goes for a slightly more lighthearted approach to that topic. However and much like "Ava", this is yet another film that doesn't know what to do with these characters, or with the situations themselves. Thomas Vincent who has mostly worked on TV Shows (including Amazon shows such as "Reacher", Netflix shows such as "Bodyguard"), mostly illustrates what's on the threadbare script, never really going beyond the limited dilemmas the characters face, which in this case mostly pertains to Emma maintaining her double lives going. This isn't a film that questions what Emma actually does, the whole killing spree is just a byproduct of her double life, it mostly focuses on the issues of being a hired killer and a mom/wife. We never get to understand much about Emma's past, nor what her ambitions actually are, the same going for all the characters who surround her, who apparently have nothing better to do than think about her and what she's doing. Whereas "Ava" tried to be a quasi character study on a woman who kills others for a living, this is more like the sitcom version of that storyline (without the over the top situations and snark that Shane Black's screenplay for "The Long Kiss Goodnight" for instance had). The problem with this film is the lack of commitment to whatever agenda the writers are going for. It's never truly a comedy, nor is it a gritty action film: it tries to be everything and the result is simply generic and forgetful. The film surprisingly has some really good actors in its cast, including the always fantastic David Oyelowo, Bill Nighy and Connie Nielsen, all of whom I hope got really well paid to be in this. The production team is competent, including Maxime Alexandre's cinematography. This is simply not an interesting proposition and film, and the only reason for this score lies with the quality of its cast. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-84696812907088015382024-01-21T10:52:00.006-05:002024-01-21T10:52:55.064-05:00Ava<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZBWMINANBACjYEEIG2cfzLsm4KkZf3y7CvtSQAARMXVBtzWiBKj-u0igDNMSX2bAN-lMSlR7jkKwaB0N2prMWwx1izTXJwEtP22x9j16Szq7QdLpAHi8rzh5KpBuFaHU-WMWBUUet7-OHtiej7cag5eivPyfcDQLx1MtRKsAZEWYX07N4Lz_t7rIeC8g/s755/ava_ver5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="531" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZBWMINANBACjYEEIG2cfzLsm4KkZf3y7CvtSQAARMXVBtzWiBKj-u0igDNMSX2bAN-lMSlR7jkKwaB0N2prMWwx1izTXJwEtP22x9j16Szq7QdLpAHi8rzh5KpBuFaHU-WMWBUUet7-OHtiej7cag5eivPyfcDQLx1MtRKsAZEWYX07N4Lz_t7rIeC8g/s320/ava_ver5.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8784956/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ava</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2020<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Tate Taylor</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Geena Davis, Jess Weixler, Common, Colin Farrell, Diana Silvers, Joan Chen, Ioan Gruffudd, Christopher J. Domig, Aramis Merlin, Michael Guarnera</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Drama, Thriller</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 2<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.32b9cdc6-bb66-d33c-b461-9f4833cf1dcd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Director Tate Taylor who made a name for himself with the films "The Help" and "Get on Up", has had a mixed directorial output since then, something that "Ava" didn't help cement. The film focuses its narrative on Ava, a for hire assassin, whom we first encounter in France dealing with a target, someone she wants to know more about, and whom she point blank asks what warranted his death. That has been something Ava has done in the past, in order to deal with the morality (or lack of) related to her jobs. Unbeknownst to Ava however, every move she makes is being monitored and listened to. Upon returning to the US, she tries to reconnect with her sister and her mother, the latter currently in the hospital recovering. It's been 8 years since she has contacted them, and during that time her father died, and her sister was left to tackle much of that situation. Her former fiancée is also now dating her sister, and there's some animosity/unresolved feelings between them. Ava is quickly sent out on another assignment, but this one takes a dark turn, and she barely makes out alive. She suspects her agency has targeted her, but her handler Duke reassures her otherwise. However when Duke visits Simon, a former protege of his, who is also handling assignments, and he does confirm he wants Ava out, as she's too much of a liability. As another hit is put on Ava, things quickly escalate, as does her tendencies to self-destruct. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">"Ava" tries to be a lot of things. It wears Luc Besson's "Nikita" influences very vividly, but without as much insight, or for that matter, thrill. It also tries to be a family drama about a woman dealing with the consequences of her addictions and actions, and how she tries to reshape the path of her life. These two venues in the film somehow never truly marry successfully. This film also joins a series of others that have recently been made about female hired assassins/secret agents, including "Atomic Blonde", "Gunpowder Milkshake", "Kate", "Jolt", all somehow trying to reach the same type of success that Luc Besson got with "Nikita" and even Phillip Noyce garnered with the Angelina Jolie vehicle "Salt". And unlike "Atomic Blonde", or for that matter "Nikita", most of these films never really know how to give these central characters a motivation and backdrop that is actually meaningful, and that goes beyond some of the acrobatics of the action scenes. With "Ava" in particular, Tate Taylor delivers a film that is shallow on character interactions, and filled with clichés, wasting away a fantastically assembled cast in the process. It's also a film that has no sense of humor, and takes itself very seriously, considering some of the nonsense that it puts on display. Jessica Chastain who also wears a producer hat on this feature, stumbles in a role that in her hands becomes somewhat dulled and muted, the same going for the reliable Jess Weixler, whose part is a collage of a variety of other similar ones, but illustrated on a single note, namely the bitter younger sister who has always had to portend with the flashier and prettier older one. The most interesting parts fall on the shoulders of Geena Davis and Joan Chen, both of whom have fun with the little parts they have, with John Malkovich and Colin Farrell barely registering. The production team while talented, also fails to impress much, including the always fantastic Stephen Goldblatt work on cinematography (he typically worked with Mike Nichols, including "Angels in America" and "Closer"), Bear McCreary's score, and even Megan Coates' costumes. It's a generic endeavor and a bit of a stain for everyone involved. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-25602081572094175732024-01-14T16:31:00.005-05:002024-01-21T11:02:39.145-05:00Maestro<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRH5sEbLGGUDZr1rgp6fdwbZ1NPa0LOGtbf6Du976madAU6wkyHgeaqO6R8V4K-mWS6MIV6A12jVzT1t5GkcUnTI6Mrem7bH4pWpX4tYiKkVaWZuHRLvHIJodidI1uzU5ljt5c9gbV8rVgZcElyV2ieD1A1WK_qxYn3uFvSrD4WCzbWQOXZUwZHAA0QbX/s2048/maestro.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1383" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRH5sEbLGGUDZr1rgp6fdwbZ1NPa0LOGtbf6Du976madAU6wkyHgeaqO6R8V4K-mWS6MIV6A12jVzT1t5GkcUnTI6Mrem7bH4pWpX4tYiKkVaWZuHRLvHIJodidI1uzU5ljt5c9gbV8rVgZcElyV2ieD1A1WK_qxYn3uFvSrD4WCzbWQOXZUwZHAA0QbX/s320/maestro.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5535276/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maestro</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Bradley Cooper</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Sarah Silverman, Maya Hawke, Miriam Shor, Zachary Booth, James Cusati-Moyer, Josh Hamilton, Sam Nivola, Alexa Swinton, Jordan Dobson, Michael Urie, Nick Blaemire, Greg Hildreth, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Drama</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 7<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81171868" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Netflix</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Another prestige release from Netflix, this one comes courtesy of multi-hyphenate Bradley Cooper, in his sophomore directorial outing, following his great debut with "A Star is Born". The narrative focuses on the life of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, and his numerous relationships, but with a particular focus on his marriage to Felicia Montealegre. The film captures Leonard's life at different junctures, starting with his journey towards recognition, when at age 25 (in 1943) he makes his conducting debut, quite unexpectedly, as a result of a guest conductor falling ill. Following raves reviews of his work, his career takes off. He maintains a romantic relationship with clarinetist David Oppenheim, but he meets Felicia Montealegre, an actress, at a party and is smitten with her. They eventually marry, and have three children, and remain supportive of each other's careers throughout their lives. Bernstein's success continues to rise, with his name appearing on multiple successful operas and Broadway musicals, including West Side Story. However in parallel with his success, Bernstein's personal excesses also start becoming more evident, including multiple affairs with men, and substance abuse, something that starts corroding his relationship with Felicia. They have a devastating argument one Thanksgiving, but remain married. While they manage to patch their relationship, things take a darker turn when Felicia becomes ill.</div><div style="margin: 0px;">In a way Leonard Bernstein's life had a way to wreak a bit of havoc on Bradley Cooper's second directorial outing. One of the things that I mostly personally appreciated about his debut, "A Star is Born", was how he pursued a sense of authenticity to his characters, allowing them to be flawed, and imminently human, even if they were operating within the confinements of a well known story. In "Maestro", Bradley Cooper stylizes his approach, and looks a bit over his shoulder, as if the figure of Mr. Bernstein is looking at his interpretation of his own life, and therefore the director has to tread the topics with competence, but without infusing them with an actual spark of life. And that's what ends up summarizing this film: it's competent, and hints at brilliance, but there's too much restraint and it is unable to bring the characters to life. With that being said, there's much to admire here, and while Bradley Cooper is trying to find his stylistic voice and approach, one thing remains true: he is able to elicit great performances from his cast, and this case is no exception. Both him and the luminous Carey Mulligan carry this film with an ease and complicity which makes the relationship between Leonard and Felicia feel intimate and authentic. Sadly the script is unable to do much for the supporting characters and even for the supporting scenarios. It treats them all as sketches for a brief montage, which almost begs the question if Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer had focused on a specific time period of Bernstein's life, maybe that would have allowed more characters to have additional dimension and bring some nuance to the web of relationships that the film hints at, but never truly develops (I personally wanted to know more about Sarah Silverman's Shirley Bernstein). Nonetheless, and while some reviews found the film pretentious, and even tedious, I disagree with that assessment. While it doesn't hit all its marks, it's an ambitious film, focused on a flawed and larger than life persona, and while unbalanced, it still manages to characterize and bring color to the central characters of the narrative. Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan are excellent, as expected, with good support provided by Sarah Silverman and Matt Bomer. The production team is impeccable, including the beautiful cinematography from Matthew Libatique, production design from Kevin Thompson, costumes by Mark Bridges, and the makeup artistry from Kazu Hiro and an array of artists, all of which did a phenomenal job of adding authenticity to these characters. A flawed film, but worth watching for sure.</div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-6081162807381149152024-01-14T15:44:00.003-05:002024-01-14T15:45:07.394-05:00Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwMho6g7ptVA6IdUnhCkTpz2DQdMpITWuwBr2-jZNVXGHc_7GEFivTqpkjcOKMefgx5HbsmkB0vwrodd-5H2LrNzL-iDjGIWIpVOGjbVbuCs0xYz4lNWui9n8C7XTvxMQYsb1C16iZ6Y8THS2D2ARRCZNo32wJ0zhySWQcPaHwJWsSraWGP1EURiLIDHA/s755/spiderman_across_the_spiderverse.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="525" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwMho6g7ptVA6IdUnhCkTpz2DQdMpITWuwBr2-jZNVXGHc_7GEFivTqpkjcOKMefgx5HbsmkB0vwrodd-5H2LrNzL-iDjGIWIpVOGjbVbuCs0xYz4lNWui9n8C7XTvxMQYsb1C16iZ6Y8THS2D2ARRCZNo32wJ0zhySWQcPaHwJWsSraWGP1EURiLIDHA/s320/spiderman_across_the_spiderverse.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9362722/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Year of Release:</b> 2023</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Director:</b> Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Starring: </b>Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Genre: </b>Action, Adventure, Animation</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b> 7</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.d5595418-c842-47be-99de-8244768719e1" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Synopsis and Review:</span></b></span><br /><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">After the resounding commercial and critical success of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" it was only a matter of time until a sequel was set in motion. This narrative picks up right after the events of the first film. Miles Morales is still dealing with his challenges of finishing high-school and preparing to go to college, while still having a crush on Gwen Stacy, the Spider-Woman from a parallel universe. Gwen in the meantime is dealing with a version of the Vulture, who came into her universe wreaking havoc, and finds some help courtesy of other universe travelers, Miguel O'Hara and Jess Drew. Her father in the meantime, police captain George Stacy thinks Spider-Woman is a criminal, unaware that he is actually pursuing his own daughter. Miles also has additional challenges, courtesy of a new villain, someone who goes by the name Spot and has the ability to create portals and navigate through them. Spot blames Miles for his condition, since he was just an average scientist, and suddenly developed those abilities as a result from an explosion that took place in the previous film. As Gwen travels to Miles' universe with the intent of also tracking Spot, and while they pick up their friendship/love interest right where they left it, they find themselves going into yet another universe in pursuit of Spot, only for those actions to start having dramatic consequences. Their action force the Spider-Man society to intervene and in ways that none of them were expecting.</span></div><div class="p1">One of the most interesting aspects of the "Spider-Verse" films has been their obvious superior animation and aesthetics. Both films are astonishingly well done, with a superlative use of color, transitions/editing, animation styles, all assembled in what feels like a frantic momentum, but one that is actually sensical, and eventually demonstrates the high energy and stakes that the central characters face. These films have successfully branched out beyond the traditional and have demonstrated the potential that modern animation can actually have in storytelling. However one of the big challenges with these narratives are the storylines, and in this case in particular, the multiverse plot point which is starting to sound tired and repetitive. The multiverse aspect of a storyline is something comic-books have used many times, and at some point writers have always found ways to press the reset button, since it's a plot device that becomes complex and frankly, tiresome to tackle at the same time with a considerable amount of characters to expand upon (multiple versions of the same character, with different families, and relationships, and so on). DC Comics legendarily tried to solve some of these Multiverse issues with the iconic series "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in the mid 80s to much success. Marvel however is still persisting on this journey, as can be witnessed from Sam Raimi's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", though based on their filmic output of 2023, they may also have to rethink their storylines. All this to say, while this iteration of the "Spider-Verse" is aesthetically stunning to look at, and everything does align, from an art direction, character design, score, voice cast, the narrative itself is starting to wear itself out. Miles Morales essentially treads on topics that have been tackled before (in the other "Spider-Man" features), with the biggest difference for this film being the drama faced by Gwen, and her relationship with her father. But these aren't the central topics of the narrative, with the attention being pulled into this multiverse storylines. And that just isn't enough anymore. It's a film worth watching, but one that also questions what else could have been told about these characters that doesn't necessarily revolve jumping around different universes. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146122026267921516.post-36061027666306755392024-01-06T20:13:00.001-05:002024-01-06T20:13:10.652-05:00Uncharted<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNylIHfXZGL63UjcLIbKE-BdvZ6GY0khhjx_ylD-VQi8598uLpCdYY6Dei8Qk-BD0cJdAP9RpnzIWjPdxx25rckLR9INchaYqtae6hLZCqIVt-I8Ko82IX2Iawvv-9mBo5jWCj2Ht-c9GgeurtWz09vCuGlzX5OGWy3PDBZ4ikNY6YEil7M0uIKIhOSmoK/s755/uncharted_ver3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNylIHfXZGL63UjcLIbKE-BdvZ6GY0khhjx_ylD-VQi8598uLpCdYY6Dei8Qk-BD0cJdAP9RpnzIWjPdxx25rckLR9INchaYqtae6hLZCqIVt-I8Ko82IX2Iawvv-9mBo5jWCj2Ht-c9GgeurtWz09vCuGlzX5OGWy3PDBZ4ikNY6YEil7M0uIKIhOSmoK/s320/uncharted_ver3.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Movie Name: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1464335/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Uncharted</a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b>Year of Release:</b> 2022<br /><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Director: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ruben Fleischer</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Starring: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, Steven Waddington, Pingi Moli, Tiernan Jones, Rudy Pankow, Georgia Goodman, Alana Boden, Joseph Balderrama</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Genre: </b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Action, Adventure</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Score out of ten (whole numbers only):</b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> 1<br /></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.38adc3a7-8c9a-4e27-b9d4-d75a831dc026" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon</a></b></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Synopsis and Review</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Director Ruben Fleischer continues his prolific output, following the commercially successful but critically reviled "Venom" and the sequel to the film that originally put him on the map, "Zombieland: Double Tap". This time around he's tackling the adaptation of a very successful video game, courtesy of a script by Rafe Judkins, Art Macum and Matt Holloway (Macum and Holloway have written the scripts for Jon Favreau's "Iron Man" and F. Gary Gray's "Men In Black: International", to name but a few). The narrative focuses itself on Nathan Drake, a young bartender with pickpocketing skills, who we initially witness as a teenager with his older brother being caught trying to steal a map, one that traces the Magellan expedition. The brothers get separated with Sam Drake fleeing and Nathan staying at the orphanage. In the present, Nathan is contacted by a man calling himself Sully, who claims to be a fortuned hunter who was working with his brother Sam. He claims his brother disappeared after they both stole a diary from an ancient Spanish navigator. Nathan agrees to work with him, hoping this will enable him to find Sam. They go to an auction to try to steal a golden cross linked to the Magellan crew, which they believe will give them more clues in their quest to get the gold they're pursuing. However more people are on the trail of that antique and that treasure, including Santiago Moncada, the last descendant of that Spanish family. They manage to steal the cross and fly to Barcelona where they hope to continue their search, since Sully has a contact there who had the other cross needed for more clues to be uncovered. However things quickly escalate and get out of control upon arrival. </div><div style="margin: 0px;">Ruben Fleischer tries to modernize the Indiana Jones archeologist/adventurer character for newer generations with this film, without realizing that sadly this film (and its script) fails to provide much in terms of giving characters something memorable to say (or do), the same going for the tired premise of the film itself. The film which at times comes across as a slow burner that is about to reveal something tantalizing, actually never really reveals much, and most of the characters have very little to expose in terms of motivations or for that matter, of who they actually are (Tom Holland's Nathan Drake is a twenty something bartender who lives in a great space in the New York area, which in itself is fiction enough, though we never really know more about him, his relationships, what his goals are, nothing much really). The villains themselves, portrayed by the always underrated Antonio Banderas, and the muscle/brawl, embodied by the great Steven Waddington (who definitely had better things to do in Derek Jarman's "Edward II" and Christopher Hampton's "Carrington"), also have nothing much to do, other than appear "menacing" and "irritated", with their motivation at times appearing to be that precisely that (make facial grimaces). It's a film that is so vapidly built and staged that at times it comes across as a parody of what an action/adventure film actually is meant to be (or how it was done in prior decades). Tom Holland tries his best to bring Nathan Drake to life, but the character is as generic as possible, while the wooden Mark Wahlberg continues to basically portray the same character he actually does from film to film, though in this case he attempts to emulate a Cary Grant "To Catch a Thief" mystique, without any semblance of memorable results (what a difference a visionary director such as Paul Thomas Anderson makes, who managed to get a great performance from him in "Boogie Nights"). The production team is competent but unremarkable. This isn't worth watching. </div>canhenhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09841307796132710567noreply@blogger.com0