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. 

Movie Review - COVID-19 Lockdown Special (Part 3)

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

9th Configuration (1980 – Stacy Keach) A new psychiatrist, Colonel Kane (Keach), had been sent to a Military Mental Asylum that’s located within an isolated castle where inmates are allowed to role-play in their fantasies as part of their rehabilitation.This movie may have been groundbreaking 40 years ago but it’s exactly the same premise as Shutter Island (go watch it if you haven’t. It’s a great movie!) where the whole movie was THE REHAB for the main character! It hasn’t aged well. So the whole movie was the fantasy for Colonel Kane who was sent there because he was actually a deranged killer called Killer Kane.Don’t waste your time on this movie as it’s a really hard watch. Go watch Shutter Island instead. 

Chasing Coral (2017)
Dedicated ecologists strive to show the world the damage global warming is doing to Earth’s natural ecosystem and all the living creatures that depend on it. The symptoms are bleached (dying) corals. Definitely a MUST WATCH if you live on this planet!

Crying Freeman (1995 - Mark Dacascos) Based on the Japanese Manga by Kazuo Koike (take note of this guy) of the same name, the movie is about the assassin who cries after each kill.

The Freeman is the sole Executioner & assassin for a secret Chinese sect called the Sons of the Dragon.

I truly enjoyed this movie as it has everything, action, romance, beautiful & exotic locales. Yo (the Freeman’s name) can easily kick John Wick’s behind without breaking a sweat! 

If you like John Wick or action movies, this is a MUST WATCH! I'd definitely watch this movie again!

Eurovision Song Contest - Fire Saga (2020 – Rachel McAdams, Will Ferrell, Dan Stevens)Childhood friends Lars (Ferrell) and Sigrit (McAdams) have dreamed and prepared all their lives to be part of and win the Eurovision Song Contest! Eventually, they make it despite the odds – facing obstacles from their own townsfolk, organizers, competitors, etc. 

For me personally, Will Ferrell had never been a choice actor but I find myself enjoying his role in this movie. On the other hand, I like Dan Stevens a lot and it’s great to see him here as the Russian competitor Lemtov. The thing I was unsure of was whether these actors actually sung the songs in the same manner as A Star is Born a la Lady Gaga & Brad Cooper. I researched it and the answer is NO.

I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this Netflix movie so much. It's a fun romp despite being fairly predictable. But it is a feel good fun movie. It doesn't pretend to be anything else. Go watch it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)1 of several movie adaptations of the classic Manga by Kazuo Koike (there’s THAT NAME AGAIN!) of the Ronin, Ogami Itto and his son, Daigoro. In this movie, he has to fight off a Female Ninja Clan and 3 Assassin Brothers known as the Gods of Death.
Many consider this to be the source material, influence or inspiration for many of Quentin Tarantino's movies or movie-style. If that is your cup of tea or if you're a huge QT fan, then this is a must watch. I didn't really like it as much as others do as there's not much acting skills displayed. It's clearly a retro movie as it looks and feels aged. But be warned, this is NOT FOR KIDS as it's very visceral and extremely violent.

Outland (1981 – Sean Connery)

Miners on Jupiter’s Moon, Io are killing themselves due to the side effects of narcotic use. Law Enforcement Officer O’Niel (Connery) is there to investigate, leading him to foil the narcotic distribution network that implicates the Io Outpost’s top man. 

Assassins are sent to the outpost to get rid of O’Niel. This movie holds a special place in my heart as I had watched it in the cinema when I was a kid back in 1982. I couldn't remember much from the movie except that it was Sean Connery in space and it was good. For a movie that's 40 years old, I'd say it aged very well as it was still a good watch.

Nothing greatly exciting like Star Wars or Matrix but it's a decent crime drama in a sci-fi setting. 

Repeat Attenders (2020) Theatre’s obsessed super-fans who repeatedly attend the SAME shows. Some even camp outside the theatre for days just to get the best seats while some watch the same show >1000 x!!!  Altho' I enjoy theatre and was intrigued by the subject of the documentary, halfway thru', I felt tired of it as it seemed to glorify the several super-fans' obsessions that were in the spotlight.  You may want to watch this out of curiosity if you are also a fan of theatre but it's definitely not for everyone.

Revenge (1990 – Kevin Costner, Mad Stowe) Retired US pilot (Costner) goes to Mexico (where anything can happen) upon an invitation from a former client, and falls for a powerful and vicious businessman’s young wife (Stowe).  It's a fairly nice watch but quite predictable. I quite enjoyed it because of Costner and Stowe, one of my favorite actresses of the 90s.

Vivarium (2019 – Jesse Eisenberg) A young couple were taken by beings from another dimension/aliens when they were looking for a new home and were put into a human terrarium (hence Vivarium) in which they can’t escape from. Moreover, they were also compelled to raise a "baby" while in captivity. The "baby" looks human but is quite obvious isn't when you watch the movie.
The premise was really interesting and it started off really well but halfway thru' it just fizzled out as most people don't really understand what it was that we're watching. Being a Sci-Fi geek, I also couldn't fully understand what it was I had watched. If you don't mind being confused at the end of it, then do give it a go.