My Artwork

I recently bought a drawing tablet (I bought the Veikk A50) during the 12.12 Cyber Sale. These were some of the pieces I did with it so far.

Elric of Melnibone

Captain Britain

Prowler

Quasar

You can find more of my artwork in my Instagram account. https://www.instagram.com/jmloke/

Movie Review - COVID-19 Lockdown Special (Part 7)

Here are more of the cinematic content I continued to consume between the last post and this one.

1917 (2019)

1917 has but a simple premise – 2 soldiers, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) & Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay), urgently race against time in a war-torn landscape to send an urgent message to save their fellow Brits in the Second Battalion, led by Colonel Mackenzie. 

As an additional motivation, Blake's brother is also in the Second Battalion. 

Col. Mackenzie needed to call off a planned attack the next morning, as it was a trap that could cost the lives 1600 British soldiers. The movie is so beautifully shot in the “single shot” style. The landscape is also very impressive as it was clearly not shot within a movie studio. The landscape looked authentically war ravaged. This is also based on a true story told to Director Sam Mendes by his grandfather.A GREAT WAR MOVIE. DO NOT MISS IT!

Death Proof [2007]

For absolutely no reason or motivation, former Hollywood Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) uses his Death Proof stunt car (designed with safety features to protect the stunt driver from death) to kill women driving along the roads of remote towns in Texas and Tennessee. 

I know many are Quentin fans and will not like what I'm going to say but this was a bloody waste of my time. Absolute Rubbish from Quentin Tarantino! The characters don’t show a single shred of human intelligence or common sense. Do yourself a favor and STAY AWAY from this piece of trash and save yourself 2 precious hours!

Escape from Pretoria (2020)

Based on a true story of 2 activists against South Africa’s Apartheid back in the 1970s.

Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) & Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) were caught distributing anti-Apartheid propaganda, were found guilty and sent to the Prison in Pretoria. The movie of course spends most of the run time showing us how the plan and execute their escape plan. Hence the movie title.

I have to admit that I personally loathe prison movies (even the much loved Shawshank Redemption) BUT I really liked this one. 

Escape from Pretoria is a great watch as you see how the 2 leads and several other inmates use their intellect and dexterity to devise a way of escape. Being a true story, everything is based on reality. Hence, making it a very intense watch as you feel anxious for them in their attempts in achieving their final objective. Great performances from all the leads. Daniel Radcliffe (best known for playing Harry Potter) can really hold his own. Definitely a MUST WATCH! 

Mothman Legacy (2020)This documentary looks at the phenomenon of the sightings of this winged creature mainly seen in Point Pleasant, West Virginia from back in the 60s onwards. Eye-Witnesses and researchers were interviewed to make this documentary. 

Point Pleasant had been transformed by this phenomenon and it has helped this sleepy town become a tourist attraction, with a statue as a landmark and even a museum dedicated to the artefacts related to the subject matter.

This documentary will be a compelling watch for people like me who are X-Files fans who like this sort of thing. However, non-X-Files fans may find this to be a hard watch. So despite my liking it, this will not be for everyone.

Ms Sloane (2016) 

Madeline Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is a very smart, formidable and ruthless Political Lobbyist that has a reputation that precedes her. You don’t want to be the politician in her crosshairs. She is such a cunning strategist that she’d make BOTH Zhuge Liang (Liu Bei’s master war strategist) & Sun Tzu proud.

<<SPOILERS>> In her crusade against the powerful opponents that are pro bearing of arms, she manages to convincingly plant her proselyte Jane Molloy (Alison Pill), as a mole in the opponents’ camp. 

Altho’ I’m not a fan of Jessica Chastain, I’d have to say she did such a great job in portraying the cold-blooded lobbyist Madeline Sloane. This is such an intelligent movie and great watch. I may not have liked Madeline Sloane or the way she does things but in the end, you can’t help but respect her! A MUST WATCH! I will definitely want to watch it again.

Zoom (2015)

A comic book artist who works in a sex doll shop - Emma Boyles (Alison Pill), a model + novelist - Michelle (Mariana Ximenes) & a film director - Edward Deacon (Gael García Bernal).

The comic book artist is drawing a comic of the director.

The director is filming a movie of the novelist while the novelist is writing a book about the comic book artist. Who’s the creator and who’s the creation? The 3 creators lives intertwine and what happens to 1 affects the other 2.

This is quite an unusual watch as the movie switches from Live Actors (comic book artist and novelist) to Animation (the director).  It’s not great but a very different viewing experience. It’ll not be for everyone but if you are looking for a different and unusual movie experience, this might just be it.

If you notice that Alison Pill happened to be in 2 movies back to back in this post, I assure you, it's pure coincidence as I didn't even know her name before these 2 movies.