Tag: Netflix

REVIEW: ‘Nimona’ is an awesome animated adventure

Production issues nearly sidelined this film. Thank goodness it was revived and released on Netflix.

“Nimona” is set in a kingdom where the past meets the future. While the kingdom has all the makings of a medieval state in function, the movie is set in a high-tech world, with knights using hovercraft and advance technology.

The movie centers on one such knight, Ballister (Riz Ahmed), who finds himself framed for killing the queen of the kingdom. He meets an unlikely ally, though, in an unruly shapeshifter named Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz) who has been shunned by the society at large for her abilities.

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REVIEW: While not a masterpiece, ‘Maestro’ remains a strong biopic

Bradley Cooper has returned to the directing chair and once again put together a film revolving around a musician.

Unlike “A Star is Born,” though, his latest picture is about a real person. “Maestro” is a biographical film about Leonard Bernstein, who Cooper also portrays. Bernstein had an illustrious career as a composer and conductor in various capacities, including film and orchestras.

While the movie covers his professional background, though, the movie is much more centered on his relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre Bernstein (Carey Mulligan). The film shows how they became a couple and how their marriage was strained by Leonard’s work and his affairs.

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REVIEW: ‘May December’ is a successful dramatization of a dark story

You know that meme with the dog who’s sitting in a burning building, drinking coffee and saying “this is fine,” even though everything clearly isn’t? The characters in this movie seem to have that mentality.

“May December,” the latest film from director Todd Haynes, takes inspiration from the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher who raped her 12-year-old, sixth grade student, Vili Fualaau, and later gave birth to his child. The two were eventually married after her prison sentence.

Those individuals were the basis for Julianne Moore’s Gracie and Charles Melton’s Joe. The film takes place many years after the affair between the married couple began, and centers on an actress, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), who is visiting Gracie and Joe to prepare for her portrayal of the former in an independent film. Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘May December’ is a successful dramatization of a dark story”

REVIEW: ‘The Killer’ is a brisk, finely crafted thriller

Director David Fincher has made another solid film on Netflix. Now here’s hoping he makes a third season of “Mindhunter” for the streaming service.

Let’s stick with his latest film, though. With “The Killer,” Fincher returns to the thriller genre, and gives audiences insight into the mind of an expert assassin. Playing the main character, who is only referred to as the Killer, is Michael Fassbender.

The film follows the character returning home from a job only to find someone close to him has been attacked. Knowing the perpetrators are still out there and could potentially strike again, the Killer sets out to eliminate the threats.

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REVIEW: Aside from visuals, pristine looking ‘Pinocchio’ disappoints

I’m starting to think the “Pinocchio” story just isn’t for me.

In director Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of the tale, we’re introduced to Geppetto (David Bradley), a toymaker who lost his son during World War I and became depressed. One night, in his grief, he gathers some timber and builds a puppet meant to be a replacement for his late son.

While the puppet started as just something Geppetto made during a drunken night, though, the doll ends up coming to life thanks to a mystical spirit. While Gepetto initially views Pinocchio with disdain, he eventually warms up to the wooden boy. However, antagonistic forces look to take Pinocchio for their own nefarious purposes.

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REVIEW: ‘Glass Onion’ offers plenty of fun, but light on heart

As “Shrek” taught us, onions have layers, and there are definitely layers in the mystery featured during “Glass Onion.”

Similar to its predecessor, “Knives Out,” detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is once again surrounded by wealthy people gathered in one location. This time around, that location is the island of the Glass Onion, which is owned by billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton).

Miles invites many of his rich friends, as well as Blanc, to a weekend at the island for a murder mystery game. Things take a twist, though, when someone actually does die during the getaway, and suspicions mount.

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REVIEW: Don’t waste grey matter on ‘The Gray Man’

Netflix keeps getting films with big name actors and they continue to be disappointing.

Ryan Gosling stars as “Six” in “Gray Man,” a member of a CIA program that turns ex-cons into black ops agents. The film picks up with Six coming across a drive with sensitive information during his latest mission.

Six learns that that the drive has proof of major wrong-doing by the CIA, and opts to try to get it in the hands of a clean higher up that can take action. However, this puts a target on his back, with former-CIA agent turned mercenary Lloyd (Chris Evans) being the one leading the chase.

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REVIEW: ‘Hustle’ has enough highlights to be worth seeing

As a Timberwolves fan, I was happy to see Minnesota star basketball player Anthony Edwards featured in this film.

Unfortunately, he plays an antagonistic character in “Hustle,” so the audience isn’t supposed to like him. Quite the dilemma.

The main focus of “Hustle,” though, is Stanley Sugerman (Adam Sandler), a scout for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers team. At the film’s start, Sugerman appears to have a chance at moving up from a scout to an assistant coach, but the promotion is dashed when a change of ownership takes place.

Sugerman is at first upset about having to go abroad to scout players again, but his mentality changes when he comes across a street-ball player named Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangomez) in Spain. Sugerman knows it’s a long shot because the 76ers don’t appear entirely interested in Cruz because of his lack of association play, but Sandler’s character still brings him to the United States, convinced that the player can get drafted by a pro team.

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REVIEW: Latest ‘Chainsaw Massacre’ is a total mess

This franchise has really only had one good sequel and that one had someone dual-wielding chainsaws. Something this movie, among other things, lacks.

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is supposed to be a direct sequel to the 1974 horror classic, ignoring all of the other pictures in the series. The film is set nearly 50 years after the original picture, and picks up with a group of young adults moving to a small, rural Texas town.

There, they plan to invite several other young professionals to revitalize a dilapidated community. Unfortunately, their presence ends up disturbing the fearsome killer Leatherface, who’s been in hiding since the conclusion of the first movie.

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REVIEW: The past looms large in quality Netflix entry ‘Lost Daughter’

Longtime actress Maggie Gyllenhaal has made her feature directorial debut with this new Netflix film, and it’s a solid starting point.

Leda, portrayed by Olivia Colman, is the star of the “The Lost Daughter.” A writer and a professor, Leda is on a vacation in Greece during the film for some time to herself.

As she’s settling in, she meets another family who’s on vacation. As Leda begins to interact with the family more, mostly with the matriarch who has a young daughter, it causes her to look back on her own past, and the decisions she made as a parent.

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