Tag: Movie Review

REVIEW: ‘Harder they Fall’ is full of western fun

Those who loved the scene in Django Unchained where a shootout had a 2Pac song playing over it should find a lot of enjoyment in this Netflix feature.

The protagonist of “They Fall” is Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), an outlaw who saw his parents killed in front of him as a young boy. Since then, he’s made it a priority to take out the people responsible, and by the time the movie gets underway, there’s just one left.

That individual is the dangerous criminal Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), who at the beginning of the film is imprisoned. However, during a train stick-up, Rufus is released. With news of Buck’s release spreading, Nat decides to go after the criminal and his gang with a group of outlaws he’s friends with.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Harder they Fall’ is full of western fun”

REVIEW: ‘CODA’ delivers with humor and plenty of heart

Sometimes a movie comes along and reinvigerates a person’s appreciation for a genre.

That’s what “CODA” has done for coming of age/teen drama films.

The title of the movie is an acryonym, meaning Child of Deaf Adults. The main character is Ruby (Emilia Jones), a teenager whose parents Frank (Troy Kotsur) Jackie (Marlee Matlin), as well as her brother Leo (Daniel Durant) are all deaf. On top of attending school, Ruby helps in the family fishing business, working on the boat and acting as a sign language interpretor for sales.

During her time at home, Ruby is a music lover and she expresses this on the boat with her singing. This inspires her to take up choir in her senior year of high school, where the film picks up. The movie then follows how she has to balance her job and her singing lessons, as well as her family’s reaction to her doing something they can’t enjoy or enage with.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘CODA’ delivers with humor and plenty of heart”

REVIEW: ‘Eternals’ is a low grade MCU entry

Director Chloé Zhao had had a great track record with 2017’s “The Rider” and last year’s “Nomadland,” the latter winning Academy Awards.

Unfortunately, her venture into the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t as good.

This MCU entry features characters older than all of the heroes audiences have been introduced to since 2008. Those characters are the Eternals, a race of warriors with special powers created by a being known as Arishem. Their purpose is to protect life across the cosmos from dark creatures known as Deviants.

Their latest mission brought them to Earth at the dawn of humanity, where they defended mankind for centuries from Deviants across the planet. The movie picks up with the Eternals in the present day, living among humanity and waiting for future orders from Arishem. However, their now normal lives are upended when the Deviants, long thought defeated, come back.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Eternals’ is a low grade MCU entry”

REVIEW: Quality is clear in ‘Titane’ but enjoyment can be modest

“Titane” is the French term for “titanium,” one of the strongest metals on Earth.

With that in consideration, the title “Titane” makes sense, as metal and strength are often tied to masculinity, which plays a major role in this feature.

The main character of the movie is Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), a young woman who works as an exotic dancer at a car show. Alexia seems mostly closed off, and has been so since she was a young girl, when a serious car accident resulted in her needing metal plates inserted.

As the first act reveals, though, Alexia has a dark hobby outside of her main dancing, job. This aspect of her life, as well as a sexual encounter she has one night after work, forces her to make a major change in her life, to the point where she has to assume a different identity. However, this action only leads to more complications.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Quality is clear in ‘Titane’ but enjoyment can be modest”

REVIEW: ‘Last Night in Soho’ sadly falters after strong start

Soho looks like a pretty fun place to visit in London, but if the main character in this movie is around, things might get a little to intense.

This film, directed and co-written by Edgar Wright, stars Thomasin McKenzie as Eloise. The young woman has recently moved from the country-side to a section of London to earn a degree in fashion. Immediately, Eloise finds herself fed up with her partying dorm roommate and decides to move into an apartment at an older building.

While it seems perfect at first, Eloise soon finds herself having visions of another young woman, named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), who lived in the same apartment and wanted to be a lounge singer during the 1960s. While the visions start off fascinating, they soon unveil a dark mystery from the past.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Last Night in Soho’ sadly falters after strong start”

REVIEW: ‘Antlers’ succeeds as a horror but let down by drama

It’s almost deer season in Minnesota, but those expecting a movie about hunting with “Antlers” should look elsewhere.

Instead this film is a horror about a mythical beast known as a Wendigo. The main character in “Antlers” is Julia (Keri Russell), an elementary school teacher who recently moved back to a rural Oregon town, where her brother is the sheriff.

Early on in the movie, Julia notices one of her students, Lucas (Jeremy Thomas) has been rather troubled. It turns out Lucas is having issues because his father was attacked in an abandoned factory recently by a shadowed figure and now appears to be changing into something monstrous.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Antlers’ succeeds as a horror but let down by drama”

Halloween Adventures in B-Movie Horror 2021, Part 3

This year’s B-movie odyssey will come to a close with two niche horror genres.

One is a stylized Italian horror film, also known as a Giallo. The other is a shot on video, or SOV, movie, which were hyper low budget flicks often made with simpler cameras.

While both movies have quite a bit of blood shed, the two couldn’t be more different in terms of camera work.

Continue reading “Halloween Adventures in B-Movie Horror 2021, Part 3”

REVIEW: Underneath the sheen of great visuals, ‘Dune’ is a dull experience

This marks the second time the book “Dune” has been adapted into a feature film, with the first attempt coming out in 1984.

Having never heard of either the book or the 84 movie, I walked into this experience with a fresh perspective.

The film’s main character is Paul (Timothee Chalamet), a young man who’s heir to the throne of House Atreides. The house is one of several noble families who control planets and hold most of the power in the cosmos, second only to an unseen emperor.

The film opens with House Atreides, under the leadership of Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), preparing to take control of the planet Arrakis, which was previously ruled by the rival House Harkonnen. The planet is one giant desert with dangerous conditions and even more dangerous inhabitants.

It’s not just the Arrakis inhabitants Atreies has to worry about, though, as there are other forces working against the house, too.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Underneath the sheen of great visuals, ‘Dune’ is a dull experience”

REVIEW: Scott’s ‘Last Duel’ is a dull, callous film

Ridley Scott’s historical epics have been rather disappointing, with 2014’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings” and 2010’s “Robin Hood” missing the mark.

Sadly, Scott’s latest effort, “The Last Duel,” doesn’t get in the win column.

“The Last Duel” is set in France during the 1300s and follows three characters, two of them being the knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and the squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), who served on the battlefield together. The third lead character is Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), Jean’s wife.

As fellow warriors on the battlefield, Jean and Jacques not only have respect between each other, but a friendship as well. The friendship begins to strain, though, as Jacques begins enforcing rules set by the local Count Pierre d’Alencon (Ben Affleck), which Jean finds unfair. The situation reaches a boiling point when Marguerite accuses Jacques of rape. As a result, the two warriors are set on a path toward a deadly showdown.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Scott’s ‘Last Duel’ is a dull, callous film”

REVIEW: ‘Halloween Kills’ crushes momentum from 2018 installment

Lightning struck in 2018, with that year’s “Halloween” feature, as it was a return to form for the long-running franchise.

Unfortunately, it appears to have been just a lightning in a bottle scenario.

The movie picks up just minutes after the end of the 2018 picture. Despite the efforts of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family, the killer Michael Myers survived the trap set for him and is back on the loose.

As Myers emerges from the fire started in the first picture, reports of his actions begin spreading throughout the town. Many of those who learn of Michael’s actions had run ins with the killer when he first attacked in 1978. Intending to bring an end to Myers, they decide to take the law into their own hands, causing even more chaos in the city of Haddonfield.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Halloween Kills’ crushes momentum from 2018 installment”