Tag Archives: American Cinema

Cocaine Bear – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is a film about a bear high on cocaine running amok. I am not sure I need to say much more than that.     

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are two mid-credit scenes

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

A Bloody phone hangs.

Cocaine Bear Review –

There are many reasons why a film can capture your attention. Maybe it is the cast, a name that immediately makes you intrigued? Could it be the genre, another period romance, or a sci-fi epic? They are the only two genres, apparently. But in rare moments, a film’s title can immediately hook you. This week we have just a movie because, if nothing else, the name Cocaine Bear is instantly provocative and makes you want to work out what the heck is going on.

So to set the scene, it is 1984, and the small town of Knoxville, Tennessee, wakes up to bundles of cocaine that started falling from the sky after a drug drop went very wrong. While some landed in suburbia, most of the stash lands in the state forest near Chattahoochee, Georgia. When the drug runners catch up to the cocaine, they find a surprise waiting for them, a 500 lb (230 kg) American black bear currently consuming their property. But this is a public park, and there is more than just the drug runners walking around. I mean, what’s the worst that half a ton of muscle and claw do when high as a kite? Cue the fatalities.

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While individual elements work, when you combine them with a story that feels kitbashed together from other/better narratives, you get a bit of a disappointment.     

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Kang shows his full power.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review –

Sigh … okay, let’s do this. I feel before I go on that, somehow, I need to build a touch of credibility on the topic of Ant-Man. I don’t know why, but let’s just go with it. I unashamedly love Ant-Man, as well as, Ant-Man and the Wasp. The first Ant-Man was a perfect coda to Phase 2, a surprisingly fun romp through San Francisco and size. The second was a breath of fresh air in-between the dourness that was the two Avengers. I loved that we were getting a third, but something in the marketing campaign made me pause … I think I should have listened to that part of myself.

So to set the scene, after helping to save the world in Avengers Endgame, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has tried to be a better father to Cassie (Kathryn Newton) who he has years of catching up to do, and a better boyfriend to Hope (Evangeline Lilly). All while writing a best-selling book. However, that ball of calm is crushed when Cassie is arrested at a protest, and her grandparents Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) might have been supporting her more rebellious side. But it is Cassie’s work in trying to chart the Quantum Realm that brings everything unstuck. Because as they knock at the door of the realm, something knocks back and sucks them all in. Now it is time for Janet’s past to catch up to her in the future.

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Daughter – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An unrelenting exploration of the subversion of the family unit.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

A ritual.

Daughter Review –

Some films pique your interest because of the genre or the narrative framework. Some still come from a casting choice that you must see how it plays out. This week we are looking at a film that hits all of these as we delve into a dark world.

So to set the scene, we open on a dirt road as a lady runs for her life as a pickup truck driven by two people in gas masks chases her down. Later a woman (Vivien Ngô) wakes up shackled to the floor with Father (Casper Van Dien) looming over her. She is to be called Sister and will soon be introduced to Mother (Elyse Dinh) and Brother (Ian Alexander). She will not be hurt … as long as she behaves because Brother is exceptional, and she needs to help him avoid the sickness out in the world.

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Women Talking – Movie Review

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TL;DR –  A stunningly devastating film, brimming with empathy and power in equal measures  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Warning – This film contains scenes that may cause distress

A mother comforts her daughter.

Women Talking Review –

When I walked in to see Women Talking, I was unsure exactly what I would see. Oh, I expected it to be heavy in tone and subject matter. But I had no idea how they would address that subject, given the immense complexities baked into the scenario. A scenario that was inspired by actual events of the worst kind. However, as I walked out of the theatre, I knew I had witnessed something profound.   

So to set the scene, in an isolated Mennonite colony in rural USA, the women have been plagued by attacks where they wake up covered in bruises on their legs. The community leaders say it is demons or that the women are making it up until one of the attackers is captured trying to sneak into a teenager’s bedroom. The police round up many of the community’s men accused or fingered in the attacks, but instead of supporting their women, the men gather up everything they can sell to go into town and post bail for the attackers. They will return in two days, and the women must forgive the attackers or be excommunicated. They have three choices, do nothing, stay and fight, or leave, which have dramatic repercussions on their lives.

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Magic Mike’s Last Dance – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Third time is the charm, as the latest entry finds the right balance between fun and drama    

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit sequence

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – There is scenes with flashing lights

The Rattigan.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance Review –

A press screening invite rarely comes with homework, but when I sent the invitation to see Magic Mike’s Last Dance, I realised that I had never watched the previous films Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL. I had heard of them and seen moments like the petrol station dance. However, in all that time, I had not actually watched them. Well, this weekend, I fixed that oversite, and well, they were fine, but not exceptional, but can the third time be the charm?

So to set the scene, it has been years since Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) gave up the world of stripping, even longer since he made the fateful final ride with his friends from the Kings of Tampa. These days Mike is working as a bartender in Miami when he runs into Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault) and lets her get a taste of his talents. Seeing his skill first-hand, she asks him to come to London to The Rattigan to help put together a performance that will stay with people for years to come. 

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Knock at the Cabin – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An intense, claustrophobic look at the potential end of the world    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an audio queue at the end but not something you need to stay for.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Warning – This film contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Cabin.

Knock at the Cabin Review –

If you look across the media landscape, the post-apocalypse is all the rage at the moment, but what about an excellent old-fashioned apocalypse? A film about struggle against all odds, looking doom in the face, and maybe not getting out alive in the end. Today we look at just such a film that both embraces and is a bit sly about it simultaneously.

So to set the scene, Eric (Jonathan Groff), Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and Wen (Kristen Cui) have gotten away from the world and are spending some time relaxing in a cabin in the middle of the countryside. A perfect escape from the world, so remote there is no cell service among all the trees and picturesque lake you can swim in. It is a delight until one moment, Leonard (Dave Bautista) walks up to Wen when she is collecting grasshoppers. He tells her not to be afraid, but he and his friends need to get into the cabin her fathers are in, and they need the whole family for something special to stop the end of the world.

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Spoiler Alert – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Well, if ugly crying in the cinema surrounded by people ugly crying in a cinema is a recommendation for you, then here it is.     

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

A bubble being blown.

Spoiler Alert Review –

I am someone who does not mind a good cry in the cinemas. It can be cathartic and shows that the filmmakers have connected with you on an emotional level. However, there is a difference between having a good cry and being so emotionally devastated that you are ugly crying in a room full of strangers. And when I say ugly cry, I mean ugly. Well, today, we are looking at a film that did just that.

So to set the scene, Michael Ausiello (Jim Parsons) focuses his life on his work, like ranking all the Gilmore Girls from Best to Rory [which like fair]. But one night, after being dragged out to a club, he spots a man across the dance floor that smiles at him, so he waves back. Actually, Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge) was smiling at his friend Nina (Nikki M. James) at the bar, but he took up the bait. It is the perfect meet-cute, bar the fact that, spoiler alert, we know from the start that this relationship is destined for tragedy.

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M3GAN – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A weirdly wonderful film, full of camp and tension.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

M3GAN in a pile of soft toys.

M3GAN Review –

Artificial life discovering sentience is one of those thematic moments that can land you on the whole spectrum of cinema. It can be thought-provoking life After Yang, menacing like 2001: A Space Odyssey, or could flip about in between, such as Lost in Space. Today we look at a film that skews more towards the menacing, where we see that Asimov might have been on to something.

So to set the scene, Cady (Violet McGraw) is travelling with her family when tragedy strikes, and she is left alone to go live with her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams). Her aunt is not ready to be a parent, and both struggle to bond until Gemma shows Cady what she is working on. A new toy and AI robot girl called M3GAN (Amie Donald/Jenna Davis) that pairs and bonds with her primary user. Everything is going well until one day, when they have a conversation about death.

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The Pale Blue Eye – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It has a mood and the performances to match, but the narrative just didn’t hook me.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Cadets in formation.

The Pale Blue Eye Review –

It is time to jump back in time when women’s dresses came in many layers, the army was dressed in blue, and mutton chops were everywhere. It is an era I like when we jump into mysteries because it feels like a world where everyone is prim and proper, but that is just a veneer. It is in this world we find ourselves in as people start dying in the most unpleasant ways.   

So to set the scene, it is a foggy night, but from the gloom, we can see a man hanging from a tree. It is 1830 in Hudson Valley, New York, and Det. Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) has just been summoned to West Point Military Academy by Superintendent Thayer (Timothy Spall). They need someone with discretion. A cadet killed himself, and then his body was violated. This is a political timebomb, and the academy is desperately trying to get the case solved before certain senators in Washington find out.                   

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The Woman King – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A powerful film of courage in the face of insurmountable odds.    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film

The Agojie rise from the grass.

The Woman King Review –

It is now time for us to take a look at the final film before we finalise our best of 2022 lists. The Woman King was a film that I tried to see several times when it was in cinemas, but the times never lined up. Indeed, I could only add it to the run-down because it just dropped on-demand. But in a year of stellar action films, we have another understanding contender to add to the mix.

So to set the scene, in West Africa in 1823, a new king Ghezo (John Boyega), has just ascended to power in the Kingdom of Dahomey. But they are under attack from the Oyo Empire, who have been pillaging Dahomey villages using proxies to sell the people to the Europeans as slaves to work in the plantations of Brazil. Ghezo is on the losing side of this war, but he has one last strength: the Agojie, led by Nanisca (Viola Davis). It is a time of castigation as many forces move inside and outside the palace, and it is uncertain if Dahomey can survive the coming storm.    

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