TL;DR – A truly bizarre ride from start to finish
Score – Three anthropomorphized monkeys out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Movie Review – What Did Jack Do?
2
Tag Archives: Film Review
Movie Review – NiNoKuni (Ni no Kuni/二ノ国)
TL;DR – A really good film up until the point it gets bogged down in its own worldbuilding
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene
Review –
It has been a long road trying to adapt video games to the big screen and so far there have not been many (if any) that have actually pulled it off. Some have got close and today we take a look at one that also is very close, even if it just does not quite get there.
So to set the scene, in Japan, there are three good friends Kotona (Abby Trott), Haru (Alejandro Saab), and Yu (Max Mittelman). Kotona and Haru are a couple and Yu is the third wheel, but not really, though he is confined to a wheelchair after a childhood accident that killed his parents. Life is great, school is good, however, all is ripped apart when one-day Kotona realises that she is being stalked by a creep. Yu and Haru rush to help her but they are too late when they arrive a masked figure stabs Kotana with a weird blade. They rush to try and get her to a hospital when in the middle of the street they are ripped into another world and now Kotona is missing, their phones are compasses, and everything is different.
Movie Review – Just a Breath Away/Hold Your Breath (Dans la Brume) (2018)
TL;DR – A good concept for a disaster film, but it does not quite hit where it needed to hit.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Given the state of Australia, where I live at the moment, it has been difficult to turn on the television and not see another disaster unfold. With that in mind, it was interesting timing that saw a film about not being able to breathe outside just as it is happening in real life. Today we dive into a film that does just that, though not in the streets of Australia, but in Paris, France.
So to set the scene, in the not too distant future Mathieu (Romain Duris) lives across the road from his ex-wife Anna (Olga Kurylenko) and their daughter Sarah (Fantine Harduin). While they are no longer together, they work to help raise their daughter who has Stimberger’s Syndrome and is confined to a protective bubble to isolate her and keep her safe. One day Paris is shaken by an earthquake and as Mathieu goes out to investigate he discovers a deadly mist exploding from underground killing all those who breathe it in. Running he is able to get Anna to safety upstairs, but they have to leave Sarah behind in her bubble as the smoke comes pouring in.
Movie Review – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Round Two)
TL;DR – This is a film that feels both incredibly safe but yet also incredibly weird and that dissidence is really odd and is enhanced on a second viewing.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
I have been thinking a lot about Star Wars in the weeks since I first watched The Rise of Skywalker. Was I too harsh with it? Did I let one story beat distract me from the rest of the film? Do I want to see a buddy cop film starring John Boyega and Oscar Isaac? Okay, that last one was an easy answer, of course, I do. However, for the first two, I was truly left wondering, well that is until yesterday when I went with some friends as saw the same film twice in cinemas (not something I have done in quite a while). Which means it is time to explore if a second viewing of Star Wars helps or hurts it and what I found is that it focuses you into the good, the bad, and the ugly.
So to set the scene, at the end of The Last Jedi everything is in flux. The Resistance has survived annihilation but has been stretched to almost breaking point as The First Order storms across The New Republic. However, all is not dandy for The First Order as well, as their leader was assassinated by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and their main battle cruiser was destroyed. However, just at the cusp of this, a dark voice from the past pierces into the vale. For it appears that Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has come back from the dead and is gunning for Rey (Daisy Ridley). Now in this review, we will be going FULL SPOILER discussing some really important plot points. If you want to read our spoiler-free review you can find it here.
Continue readingMovie Review – 6 Underground
TL;DR – An incredibly stylish and well-produced film that just didn’t quite nail the substance portion.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Sometimes in life, you want to shut your brain off for a bit, sit down, and watch some explosions flare to life on your screen. The action flick is the king of this, especially if you pivot it in the direction of an action/comedy. However, today we are looking at a film that should be all this and more, but I walked away feeling that something was missing.
So to set the scene, we open in on a special ops team, which is having a very bad day, because everything is going very wrong, very, very, wrong. This is not your usual black ops team because while black ops teams are sometimes called ghosts, this team is for all intents and purposes are actually ghosts because the world thinks they are all dead. We have One (Ryan Reynolds) The Billionaire, Two (Mélanie Laurent) The CIA Spook, Three (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) The Hit Man, Four (Ben Hardy) The Skywalker, Five (Adria Arjona) The Doctor, and Six (Dave Franco) The Driver. Their aim was to find information out about Rovach Alimov (Lior Raz) a dictator with the predilection for using chemical weapons against civilians.
Continue readingMovie Review – The 9th Precinct (局分九第)
TL;DR – An interesting look at the barrier between life and death but takes some short cuts to get there
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene
Review –
Generally, the time we get films about what goes bump in the night it is around Halloween and not Christmas. So, it was a nice change of pace to get a film that explores the darker side of the world and what happens after death. With this in mind, today we explore a film that looks at that bridge between the living and the dead and what happens when you start playing with that fixed barrier.
So to set the scene, Chen Chia-Hao (Roy Chiu) works as a police officer for the Houli Police Agency. However, he has always led a special life because he can see the undead. This has led to him only rising to the rank of traffic cop even though he shows exemplary skill. One day while on patrol he finds a killer but during the arrest, his partner is shot and killed. He would have been killed too but a ghost stepped in and saved him. He refuses to change his report about a ghost and is fired but on his way out he is grabbed by the mysterious Mr Chang (Chia-Chia Peng) and given an offer to continue working for the police as a member of the secretive 9th Precinct, the ghost crimes bureau.
Continue readingMovie Review – The Man Without Gravity (L’uomo Senza Gravità)
TL;DR – A film that explores the joyous and sad moments if our lives through the prism of someone who falls out of societies prism of normality.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene but there is a kickass song about Batman so that’s something.
Review –
Having a baby is one of the most joyous moments in your life, however, it can
also be full of dread. Will the baby be okay, will I, what will our future be,
have we baby-proofed the house? However, I don’t think anyone has had to deal
with “what are our strategies for getting
the baby off the ceiling.”
So to set the scene, in a small town in Italy a car races the nearest medical
centre as that time has come. Natalia (Michela Cescon) is rushed into that
hospital with only her mother Alina (Elena Cotta) at her side. But this is not
a normal pregnancy because as the baby comes out it begins to rise into the ceiling
with only the umbilical cord keeping it attached. Natalia races out of the
centre without leaving her name but when they get home they call the boy Oscar
as he is like an American superhero. All it well for a moment until that is the
local gossips come around to see the baby.
Movie Review – Fragmentary
TL;DR – A look at the effects of death and trauma, that then gets weird.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
One of the things I think people have a hard time comprehending is the lasting
impact of trauma and what it does to a person. The impacts that reaching into
the past, present, and future. Today we look at a film that explores that reality
and the effect it can have and how people can be real asses about it.
So to set the scene, Ben (Jace Pickard) and Allison (Debbie Neilson) are living
their lives, exploring the potential names for their coming baby, when there is
a crash of glass outside. Ben goes outside to see what caused it when Allison
noticed the fridge door has been left open, but no one has been in the fridge.
When they get back inside the power goes out and when they flip the fuse back
on the attack happens. Two years later, Ben has finally started a new relationship
when he is meeting the parents and drinks wine for the first time in two years and
blacks out, but where did he go when he blacked out?
Movie Review – Diecisiete (Seventeen)
TL;DR – A beautiful story about families and what you would do for them.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
What would you do for the people you love? Would you break the law? Would you
fight? Would you run? Would you hand them in to the police to get them help? In
many ways, this is one of those few things that break down the usual barriers
that we put up, that define the clear right and wrong. Today we look at a film
that explores that boundary and does not hold back.
So to set the scene, Héctor (Biel Montoro) has a flexible relationship with the
law, in that he has a very regard system of right and wrong and if it means stealing
a heater to help his Abuela Cuca (Lola Cordón) who’s heater has not been fixed
in weeks then that is fine. Things probably would have been fine but his
brother Ismael (Nacho Sánchez) let the authorities know. Sentenced to two years
in juvenile detention Héctor constantly escapes to see how far he can get. Struggling
to find a way forward the centre staff give him a dog to help train which he
calls Sheep. All is fine and he is only a month before release when one day
Sheep is gone, he has done such a good job that Sheep was adopted and that
triggers a countrywide chase for closure.
Movie Review – Banlieusards (Street Flow)
TL;DR – A fascinating narrative of life on the outskirts of Paris and what it means for the people that live there.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Like many cities today Paris is a tale of two halves, the city and then the
outer suburbs. There are times when they are almost two different worlds even
though they are deeply interconnected. Within these worlds and the stories of
those lives that are shaped by their worlds, their struggles, and the forces
they can’t control.
On the outskirts of Paris lives Soulaymaan
(Jammeh Diangana), his brother Noumouké (Bakary Diombera), and their mother
Khadijah (Kani Diarra). Soulaymaan is preparing for his final exam as part of
his law degree, hoping to create a better life for him and his family. However,
his younger brother is at a crossroads, he could follow in Soulaymaan’s path or
that of his brother Demba (Kery James) who run drugs in the local area after spending
some time in jail.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 