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Abigail (2024)
'Bloody' Fang-Tastic!
Having read the preview in my movie magazine, I toally wanted to see this, having not seen a decent vampire movie in years that also included a heist!
What was interesting is that our main lead, ballerina vamp 'Abigail' was an actual experienced ballerina and used her skillset to bring extra gravity to her character and a certain type of grace that worked perfectly in the movie.
The plot was simple with so many threads keeping you guessing without giving to much away... The fractious collective were brilliant and with our group leader Frank 'Dan Stevens' stole the show but the whole cast did!
This movie covered everything from chills, guts & gore with enough blood to feast a vampire orgy, the humour was comicial gold and on point with plenty of jump scares in the perfect 18th century abondoned Mansion setting that also plays a pivotalrole in the very intensifying plot.
It was one of the best Vampire Movies I've seen in a long time, If you liked 'Dusk Till Dawn' then you'll this movie with a 13 year old ballerina kicking arse, go see!!!
Fallout (2024)
A great spin on a Playstation classic
The crossover from PS5 to TV is an all time high, having enjoyed movies Resident Evil & Super Mario Bros, Mortal Kombat was OK...
We now have a new TV series spin off from the classic game and having played it the similarities and the terrain after the 'fallout' from the 1950s atomic bomb is just brilliant!
The Goul played by 'Walton Goggins' was gold and totally stole the show, the cast were brilliant and loved 'The Brotherhood of Steel' suits were just epic!
Plot had a few twists which was good and seeing the surface 100 years later was great, with giant bugs and a bear you would rather walk away from..... Love the exploding parts from Goul's impressive shotgun, remind me not to cross his path..
Hoping for a season 2 to expand the story in to the wastelands, no spoilers!
Back to Black (2024)
'Bittersweet Symphony'
Seeing lots of mixed reviews, people questioning the singing, performance and how close to the truth...
Like all singing biopics, they have a touch of Hollywood to make it interesting, but whats different with this retelling of Amy's fractured rise to fame is the raw emotions and struggling to get to grips on her rising stardom and fronting Alcoholism & Drugs.
But the performances of Amy's tight knit Kosher family unit is well played out, as much as her adorning fans would know from all her snipets in the press, from her street antics in worse for wear ballet shoes to the bust ups with her ex husband for the world to see from the PRESS never straying to far from Amy's presense...
The actress portraying Amy was brilliant with an epic voice to match and never over playing it and credit to the actor playing Blake Fielder-Civil really nailed it, their love affair as predictable as Romeo & Juliet just with a little extra chaos thrown in.
Civil War (2024)
Art imitating Life....
A high octane suspenseful film, that in some way is not to far from the truth with America constantly at war with itself and the in fighting for ultimate supremacy.
This reminded me of the Gerald Butler movie franchise of 'Olympus as fallen' with its government being comprised.
I found the movie very gripping throughout with so much suspense being like a fly on the wall seeing the journalists on a mission to meet with The President in DC travelling from New York, seeing the terrain of the States looking more like the back drop of The Walking Dead, with burnt out cars & helicopters...
Well executed and brilliantly shot, I liked it, will be getting the 4K version on disc!
Road House (2024)
Decenty enough remake...
Remakes... when you have iconic movies being remade its very hard to capture the essense that made the original movie a classic.
I was very sceptical of a Road House remake, where Patrick Swayze with his coolness, sex appeal and ease was the perfect leading man making the 1989 an instant classic!
2024, we have 'Jake Gyllenhaal' a Hollywood Actor with many movies to his bow, who I thought played 'Elwood Dalton' perfectly, looking the part physcially being a previous UFC fighter in the plot, had the perfect vibe with his perfect swager with his no nonsense attitude and fighting skills to match.
His nemisis this time is 'Ben Brant' who is a rich kid looking after his Daddy's empire who isnt that frightening, unlike the original big bad 'Brad Wesley' keeping Patrick's Dalton on his toes.
A movie that centres around a music bar being driven in to the ground by local gangs and trouble makers never seems to shine or rise from the ashes and only appears in a few shots.
'Conor McGregor' well known fighter sent in as hired help was fun to watch with some great fight scenes with Dalton but not keen on this twisted mix of an Irish / Cockney & American accent felt gimmicky.
Overall, I enjoyed more then I thought, just wished it played more hommage to the original, if a potential second comes in the works... More fights, Roadhouse featured more and Jake Gyllenhaal throwing a few extra punches with a better bad guy to match!
Twisted Metal (2023)
I developed a 'Sweet Tooth' but....
Generally, I liked the series, a perfect cast and back story + plot and colourful erray of charachters, but for a movie thats based on a classic Playstation 1 game where different themed vehicles have a 'Royal Rumble' and go to war blitzing one another falls a little flat...
A series thats based on carnage felt more like a road trip love story with episodes where nothing much really happens.
But the positives, the story with our lead characther 'John Doe' Anthony Mackie a loyal MILK MAN making endless deliveries in return for stuff was decent, his loyalty to his beloved car 'Evelin'.
Sweet Tooth, the human mountain clown was brilliant, totally stole the show and like the ther game, driving his converted Icecream Van.
I loved some of the driving scenes from the early episodes and in the final stages that played homage to the game, hoping if they do a Season 2 that we get more 'Twisted Metal' car action and blood!
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
A brilliant sequel, a joyous adventure back in NYC
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a brilliant movie with an excellent cast and plot that continued the story and after 3 years The Spenglers & Co are back at their spiritual home and DNA of the franchise, New York!
I thought the plot was 'chillingly' good and the perfect fit to the wider story, great hearing the Ecto-1 whizzing about the streets busting ghosts with something evil on its way...
I love that the OG characters have apprised their roles again, it's the perfect antidote with the old / young cast members saving New York together.
I love that we see more of the Firehouse, as The Spenglers have took residency with a certain returning character lurking in the attic...
The action throughout is just great, lots of humour with some dark moments and lots of references to the first movie and with an old character back as now Mayor of New York 'Walter Peck' still out for the OG crew.
Ignore the negative reviews, the direction of the franchise is brilliant, a fun family movie with the feels of a family sit down 80s popcorn adventure, heart warning, action packed and enough scares to leave you feeling well... 'frozen' go see it, won't be disappointed!
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Visually amazing & stylish.. But it lacked something...
I loved the first movie, having never seen the 1980s original and I like anything Denis Villeneuve makes, previously dystopian movie 'Blade Runner 2049'.
Along comes Part 2 of Dune, carrying on from the end of part 1 in the desert with Paul and his mum Jessica with The Fremen people learning to adapt / adjust to their new found loyal companions hidden among the cliffs....
What I liked about part 2 a bit like 'Return of the Jedi' was the fight back against the Harkonnen people who slaughtled them previously and the Duke leaving them to abandon their refuge.
Visually, this film is brilliant on a grander scale, with a lot more worms and riding the waves so to speak in the sand storms!
Harkonnen home planet and its people all in monochrome is very rich in detail and gloomy and loved Austin Butler 'Feyd-Rautha' nephew of The Baron who is incredibly menacing.
Rest of returning cast are brilliant, I just felt the action could of just been a little more... But a decent part 2, lets hope for an all action packed part 3!
Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
Life after death....
When I read the review I was locked in, anything with a touch of gothic humour and set in the 1980s is the perfect antidote!
This really reminded me of a mixture of 80s classic 'Weird Science' and 1990 classic 'Edward Scissorhands' it culminates somewhere in between...
The relationship between Kelly, and her 'creature' no plot spoilers is very sweet, a story that questions where we belong in society and wanting to feel loved.
The touches of gore and the creature needing new 'body parts' to be fully restored from his decaying 19th century dead body was brilliant, the humour was really good with a decent supporting cast.
An easy watch and enjoyed!
The Gentlemen (2024)
Absolutely Brilliant!
Hats off to Guy Richie, not lot of stuff is worthy of a watch on Netflix, but if you like the movie of the same name you'll love this!
Not sure where to begin, plot wise it's forever changing as the plot just thickens at every turn & corner, but easily to follow.
But its all the characters that are just a pure joy to watch, I like the slightly more relaxed role of the loyal maintenance man 'Geoffrey' played by a loyal Richie cast member 'Vinnie Jones' living on the premise attending to injured animals and the upkeep of the manor.
Our leading stars Edward & Freddie as the lords of the manor are comicial gold along with the Glass family, no spoilers!
This series is stylish, love the backdrops and the stately homes and furnishing, everything from the travellers to the Scousers are all pivital in the story tropes.
Brilliantly shot in glorious 4K, hoping for a season 2!
Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
Decent portrayal of a peace maker
Not a huge Bob Marley fan, but like many, I like his big hits I remember as a kid and my big Sister was bit of a fan!
I didnt know the back story of Bob, besides being a native Jamaican and by the late 70s, a huge polictical divide was brwing with a civil war.
Kingsley Ben-Adir plays Mr Marley with a lot of grace, likeability and realism, I didnt realise how crazy it got in Jamaica with the gunfire and attacks from either side.
Singing was really good throughout with the help of the wailers! Also with his loyal wife Rita, always by his side and incredibly loyal to his bitter end.
Pace of the movie is steady but enjoyable, as this is a movie depicting Bob during his height of fame in the late 70s and heading to London before touring Africa, Europe...
Sad that he died so young, so well liked by everyone across the world and his people when touchhing down on Jamaican soil, respect Bob.
The Zone of Interest (2023)
Hard to digest...
Having visited Auschwitz Birkenau on my tour to Poland in early 2020, you immediately felt the sorrow of entering the concerntration camp and hard to fathom the horror that the Jewish people bare witness too and for the countless people that died...
I've always had an intrigue of these stories, being my own Grandad liberated Bergen Belsen in Germany.
But what I didnt know about Auschwitz , was the family living next to the camp in their own version of tranquil solitude and oblivious to the endless suffering of innocent lives, throughout the movie with the sound of dogs barking, screams and endless gunfire.
Rudolf Höss commandant of the camp with his loyal family and children playing blissfully, fully knowing atrocities of shear evil next door is hard to stomach and diggest.
The use of sound throughout the movie only heightened the evil being commited in the camp, by never actually baring witness to seeing anything but its the knowledge of knowing what truly happened, a sad but impactful movie - A hard but intriguing watch to add.
Griselda (2024)
Dont mess with Griselda!
Go back to being a house wife! Ot-OH... Shouldnt of said that!
This is a brilliant drama series with enough coke to feed an entire army!
What starts out as a woman dealing with domestic abuse from her violent drug barren husband turns in to a Scarface rise to the top inspired conquering America, well Miami to be exact!
The plot is solid and easy to follow, a 6 part series of Grisdela's rise and fall is brilliant, a great cast, with the right amount of blood and violence thats makes it believable and knowing this is based on a true story is even better.
Sofia Vergara as the titles main character is so convincing I will not mess with her in and out of character!
Argylle (2024)
Over the top fun!
I wasn't sure about seeing this, down to the fact the spy movie genre has so many to date from Bond to Ethan Hunt's Mission Impossible but somehow this movie does something different...
From its solid cast and performances and a plot that totally blows your mind just adds to the tongue in cheek, high octane enjoy and fun with a cat tagging along for the ride.
It reminded me of Romance in the Stone / The Jewel of the Nile...
Some of the sets are brilliant from the train scene to London and a great part towards the end with lots of colour and a great soundtrack, our main leads are thre perfect doule act with Sam Rockwell & Bryce Dallas Howard are the perfect antidote.
Even the appearance of Dua Lipa was great and John Cena enjoying his coffee, good film!
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
Was hoping for just a little more to make it an 8....
The hype around this movie was huge, Zack Synder having been a huge Star Wars fan wanted a spin on the space fighting frontier to be more a like a Western style movie across the stars away from everything else...
Now the plot was simple... Farmers having to defend their planet from a mighty threat like Stars Wars Empire's 'Darth Vader' but without the warriors to defend their homeland...
Movie becomes a quest movie taking in a few vistas and interesting characters to add with some decent set pieces and interesting creatures to add... But the action was lacking for an all out Sci Fi adventure it fell a little flat in the the second half but finishing on a decent midway point, hoping for a more action packed, part II.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
Much better then the first one for sure!
Having been a fan of the DC world from Superman: Man of Steel to Batman vs Superman and being introduced the bg screen version of Aquaman with Jason Momoa, with his cowboy like attitude / surfer being a man of water I loved his character, but after seeing the first Aquaman movie I was left kinda disappointed as the movie felt puffy and satuated with CGI...
BUT... Aquman and the lost kingdom felt different, and the whole pace of the movie had shifted from the first movie and was so much better.
The plot was solid with a threat from its previous bad guy hell bent on turning the town, it was a decent movie at best!
Wonka (2023)
Pleasantly surprised!
I have to confess, not much of a musicial man when it comes to movies, I find them very tongue & cheek... But when you have the talented Timothée Chalamet playing the eccentric Chocolatier, you have to go see!
It was a very warm, charming, fun family movie, the music throughout was actually good and not cheesy, the backdrop in movie was excellent, set in the late 19th century, a very Dickensian feel with its texture, with a brilliant supporting British Cast from Olivia Coleman to Rowan Atkinson.
The story was really good and heart warming, alongside the backstory of WONKA, it the was perfect prequel to the classic 1970s movie... A perfect Christmas film.
One Life (2023)
A remarkable man...
I've always had a fasination with Jewish history, centering around the atrocities of Hitlers Germany during WWII, but like the movie 'Schindler's list' ... This story is Britian's own version of Oscar Schindler, sharing a similar beat of a man with wealth but also a humanitarian for humankind, that shining moment of heroism.
I loved the 'then/now' of Nicky's extraordinary life, also being a parent myself to a 3 year old and seeing the kids going off to safety leaving their parents behind is heart breaking but you can see it in the performance of young Nicholas with such great acting and full of heart.
The cast are all fantastic, set pieces are great and you truly share their heartache and living in a tempory ghetto in the bitter cold.
Anthony Hopkins is just brilliant as the older Nicholas and you can see how in his later life that the horrors remain with him and wishing he did more, for someone so modest felt he never did enough.
A pull at the heart strings movie with empathy in an ambudance, with a few tears.... Just brilliant!
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Ignore the haters... But a lack luster ending it is...
Really not sure on the negative reviews, I really liked this movie from the start... A slow building enticing plot, kinda reminded of Cloverfield, never really understanding what is really hapening even as the plot unfolds it looks as it can be so much more (no spoilers).
I think the cast are brilliant, how a majority of the film is rather isolated as we learn to know our main characters as the story unravels...
I think the only thing that lets it down is the cut off ending that leaving the audience hanging.... Never know what happens next, either a sequel to follow or leaving its audience in wonder.
But overall, visually great, gripping, a suspecneful modern day sci-fi with music thats fitting and intensifying.
Napoleon (2023)
Decent enough just a little too long...
There's been a lot of dabate about this moving, how accurate the story is and its epic battles of the 19th century revolution of the French...
But for those not to worried, its a good enough watch, a great performance by our leading character 'Napoleon' potrayed by a personal favourite actor 'Joaquin Phoenix' and his troubled marriage with to Joséphine de Beauharnais played by Vanessa Kirby who puts in a great performance, the sexual tension and screen antics is done very well and seeing their frgmented relationship play out whilst Napoleon gains ranks and wants to the rule the world.
Only let down is its incredibly long, should of focus just a handle of battles then trying to show many... Visually great all the same.
Culprits (2023)
Totally hooked!
Wow... I really loved this for so many reasons, these crime / heist movies always have the usual twist and turns but not this series...
This centres around our main lead Joe / David after a heist goes dicey that has repercussions for all those involved.
If you can manage to keep up with the clever plot from its many 'before' 'now ... '3 weeks ago' story timeline it totally grips you, leaving you wanting to know how the plot thickens leaving you fully committed to its ever expanding story and how it's heist crew remain incognito in the shadows...
Like a decent movie where you're totally invested in its characters, this series you want to know every back story of each individual character and what drives their actions which in turn changes the dynamics of its story arc..
I think the basis of the story is great, brilliant characters... Good action, locations spreading from London, Paris & Barcelona...
Hoping for a series 2!
Thanksgiving (2023)
Welcome the new Scream franchise..
Slasher movies are often predicable, same kinda plots and gross out scenes... But not this movie, what Eli Roth has done is not far short of genius...
This movie kinda reminded me of 'I know what you did last Summer' and the continuing successful franchise 'Scream' but this time the gears have been turned up.
The opening sequence was a brilliant start centring around the American 'Thanksgiving' festivities with the associated BLACK FRIDAY event... With out any spoilers, you'd think the beginning of the movie pushes it gore to the max but this is just a taster, snippet of what's to come..
Like all decent slasher movies, there is always an ulterior motive which drives the movie, what follows is such movie gold... A movie with a great plot, use of excessive blood, moments of pure shock with a little bit of seasoning to add... I'm satisfied.
Sly (2023)
A movie legend & writer!
Sylvester Stallone is known to the world all over for being one of the 'heavy weights' of Hollywood, pun not intended!
An actor cemented his glory in movie history and for writing his movie legacy franchise 'Rocky'.
Stalloe's documentary is gripping, seeiing him in his personal space at his LA home before his move to Florida, talking about his rise to fame at a time in the late 70s getting a decent break into becoming an actor.
Seeing parts of his scripts, plot idea and how the actors became famous for the roles in the successful movie franchise of Rocky.
But it would of been good to see more of Stallone then just the heavy focous on the movies that made him from Rocky ot Rambo.
But what you do get from the documentary is someone who appreciates his success, his fans, the people that worked with Sly have a connection that spans 40+ years is amazing and a lasting friendship even with his 1980s rival, its tv gold.
Sly is a legend in his own right, someone grounded... Family man and a great writer and movie star!
Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
Luke warm movie....
Afternoon reading about the preview in my movie magazine, I felt it deserved a watch.
Overall, its not a bad movie, an original idea and I like the animontronic puppets in a washed up kids birthday celebration diner of the 1980s now locked up by its owner.
A creepy start building the suspense, the plot though is nothing new and does run a little flat but by second half the momentum picks up and the plot becomes a bit trippy, but the style of the film is good and acting is pretty solid although a little predictable it does comes together with the plot but the bloody scenes are very good which I feel it just needed a bit more blood to give it that extra edge but a satisfying ending.
The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
Decent enough sequel
Doing a direct sequel to a highly regarded classic of a horror movie is no easy task.
But this genuinely does disturb in the right way, a backstory to our main character and living life in suburbia with his teenager daughter who decides with best her friend to contact the dead in a creepy forest...
But some things are best untouched, bringing back the original lead from the 70s movie does stoke the fire and bringing that nostalgia along with some jumpy scenes that do catch you off guard but with a strong start, a decent middle, I was just hoping for more in the final act, but my all means... Ita a good film.