Month: February 2024

Bob Marley: One Love

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Rating: Half-Full

Genre: Biopic, Drama

Studios: Paramount Pictures/Plan B Entertainment/

Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch and James Norton

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Writers: Zach Baylin, Frank E. Flowers, Reinaldo Marcus Green and Terence Winter

Based on: the true story of Bob Marley

Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Cedella Marley, Rita Marley, Ziggy Marley and Robert Teitel

Music by: Kris Blowers

Rated: PG-13 for marijuana use and smoking throughout, some violence and brief strong language

Release Date: 02/14/24

Runtime: 1h 47m

Tagline: Some voices are forever

Favorite Character: Bob Marley

Quote: “Cause everything is gonna be alright.”- Bob Marley

Fun Fact: Kingsley Ben-Adir wasn’t too comfortable about playing Bob Marley cause he couldn’t sing or play guitar, nor was he Jamacian.

The Review: Music biopics is still a recent genre to the cinema. We got Freddy Mercury, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, etc, etc, and it doesn’t stop there, this year we are in for Amy Winehouse bio and next year we are getting one about Michael Jackson, played by his nephew.

Jamaica may sound like a tropical paradise, but like many of the other islands, it has a wrong side of tracks types of towns. In fact, it was 1976 and Jamaica was filled with gangs and violence. And Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) wasn’t a fan of being in the middle of it. So he is planning on doing a ‘Smile Jamaica’ concert, hoping to bring peace to his country. Of course, that didn’t go according to plan when he and a few of other people, including his ex wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) got shot and hospitalized.

Now the rest of the movie, involves with Marley creating a Exodus album. I thought it didn’t make sense because the title is called ‘Bob Marley: ONE LOVE’ which would make the audience think it would be about Marley writing the beloved song that goes, ‘Let’s get together and be all right.’ or at least have a part of him writing ‘3 Little Birds’ but all there is to that one is the one line of the chorus Marley said to one of his 11 kids in the car. Otherwise, It just goes straight to him making an album. but One Love and 3 Little Birds are in that album, so writers Baylin, Flowers, Marcus Green and Winter are forgiven.

I believe the moviegoers will be sort of frustrated that Marcus Green wasn’t able to tell us enough about the Bob Marley. It’s actually true, the writers didn’t seem to be putting much thought on the Jamaican icon. Even the montage of Marley’s high point of his career seemed rushed. On the plus side, the Flashbacks are kinda unique, since there isn’t one flashback that doesn’t contain the orange lighting.

The two main character, Bob and Rita, really did steal the spotlight in the movie. Ben-Adir has well assemblance of Bob Marley (despite not being Jamacian) and I didn’t noticed that he lip synced. And as for Lynch’s version of Rita, it could get in next years Oscar contender for best actress. I also think it’s kinda cute to have a kid playing Ziggy in the film (although, a cameo from the real Ziggy would have been nice).

The problems I have wasn’t that the film was below average of the music biopics, i mean it is but it’s more of the fact that it has to do with the music biopic genre. With so many out, i feel the screenwriting is getting repeative and getting to be soulless. Maybe Hollywood should cool off the music biopic genre or maybe stop it all together before it gets staler.

Self Reliance

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Rating: Full

Genre: Comedy, Suspense, Thriller

Studios: Hulu/Neon/MRC

Cast: Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Natalie Morales, Andy Samberg, Mary Holland, Emily Hampshire and Christopher Lloyd

Director: Jake Johnson

Writer: Jake Johnson

Producers: Ali Bell, Joe Hardesty and Jake Johnson

Music by: Dan Romer

Rated: R for language throughout

Release Date: 01/03/24

Runtime: 1h 25m

Tagline: Surviving is all about the company you keep.

Favorite Character: Tommy Walcott

Quote: “This Show is a Comedy”- Charlie

Fun Fact: the bar in the movie ‘La Cita’ means ‘The Meeting’ in spanish.

The Review: I have only heard of Jake Johnson from the Spiderverse films and I don’t watch New Girl so I may not be familiar with him. So, I’m starting to get familiar with him in his directorial debut. I am, however, am familiar with SNL’s Andy Sandberg and it was quite interesting with his comedy band ‘Lonely Island’ producing this film.

Johnson also wrote and starred in the film as a guy named Tommy who is suffering from a bad breakup and goes through the loss by exercising, working and drinking every day. That really doesn’t sound like a fun life at all. That all changes when a mysterious limo came by and who is sitting in the limo is none other than Andy Sandberg, inviting him in the limo for what is about to be a game changing adventure. Sounds a man’s fantasy, it evens feels like it, but it is really happening. If Tommy actually thinks about it, something awesome like this will always have one big catch.

This turns out to be a Dark Web reality show and he will be watched, every move! But if he survives 30 days without being hunted, he will win $1 million, which sounds pretty tempting but deadly. Now the good news is that there is a loophole, the hunters won’t kill him if he is within a few feet of someone, but he will be at risk if he is all alone. Sounds like this dark comedy is really in a social experiment genre.

I wasn’t expecting Johnson told immediately tell his mother and two sisters about the game, I mean we probably would in a same situation. And as we expect, they don’t believe him and assume that he is having mental issues, turning him into a person who the world thinks he’s crazy (but he isn’t). The first five days was no problem for Tommy but after that, the dark web show begins and things are getting tense. So his only option is to have anybody with him 24/7. Anybody. Even if its a homeless man named James. But before that, comes a suspenseful and hysterical moment of the film. Involving his sister’s boyfriend, him taking a crap and Johnson panicking…yeah, you probably might figure out what this is.

You might have heard Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick is in the movie and you might be like, where is she? That’s what I was like, but thankfully, she appears in the movie at the same bar that was part of Tommy’s same old schedule. And as someone who is also participating in the game, so all they had to do way be within each other for the remaining of the game. Sounds easy right? Well, I wouldn’t hold my breath for that one because if you are in a movie, things will always take a radical turn.

I won’t say much about the ending, but by that time, the story really slipped. A very anticlimactic moment that would you will be like…really? That’s it? It also could use more of the humorous moments too, but Self Reliance did manage to teach the audience the same value of life that Tommy learned. It’s a squid game like social experiment that Johnson used to teach the audience and the results are various but entertaining.

Madame Web

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Rating: Few Burnt Kurnels

Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Studios: Columbia Pictures/Di Bonaventura Pictures/Marvel Entertainment

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts and Adam Scott

Director: S. J. Clarkson

Writers: S. J. Clarkson, Claire Parker, Kerem Sanga, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless

Based on: the Marvel Comics

Producer: Lorenzo di Bonaventura

Music by: Johan Soderqvist

Rated: PG-13 for violence/action and language

Release Date: 02/14/24

Runtime: 1h 56m

Tagline: Her web connects them all

Favorite Character: The three girls

Quote: ‘When you take on a Responsibility, Great Power will come.”- Santiago

Fun Fact: Before the movie even came out, it was predicted that it will be the lowest grossing Sony-Spider-Man Universe movie!

The Review: In case you haven’t noticed, Sony is trying to make its own Spider-Man Cinematic Universe, but so far, there hasn’t been much progress. Especially with 2022’s Morbius that ended up being a huge misfire to the superhero genre (but for some reason, became a meme) Madame Web, sadly was kinda like that.

First scene, and the acting was already lousy and we were even demonstrated that their camera work looks like from the cheap camcorder, you know with all that unnecessary zooming in and out throughout the scenes, or maybe even the entire movie. But here, we meet Ezekiel (Tahar Rahim) and Constance Webb (Kerry Bishe), who is pregnant with a future madame web. And of course, there’s always gonna be a betrayal at some point and we are officially given a ungraceful action scenes, right before Constance gets bit by a special spider before dying giving birth.

Then we go to 2003, where we meet Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a paramedic with her assistant Ben Parker (Adam Scott). Yes, that is indeed Peter Parker’s uncle. Cassie then starts seeing what some may consider glitches in reality, but we call them premonitions, a supernatural force that allows you to see what may happen shortly. Now don’t get me wrong, Dakota Johnson’s performance wasn’t all horrendous, but we might wonder if Johnson even had fun with this role. If not, than it probably feels like a chore for her. While the premonition may sound cool in general, the one in Madame Web, seems to look like a low budget version of the Final Destination movies. The Final Destination franchise has better premonition shots (except for the fourth one).

You should know, all superhero movies has a special mission. For Madame Web, it’s protecting the three girls (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced and Celeste O’Connor) that are known for being Spider-Woman from Ezekiel who wants to kill him all because they will ruin his life, how selfish of him! Wait a minute… how many Spider-Women are there? And also, Peter Parker wasn’t even born quite yet! Wasn’t he supposed to be the first superhero based off the six legged bug? I don’t know! Not that there are any good characters in it, thankfully, these three girls are not too bad…or maybe they are.

Did I mention that this film is out of tone and has choppy editing? Also its CGI special effects for Ezekiel’s Spider-Man knock off suit is truly NOT so special. Superhero fans will probably be annoyed with a cliche which we don’t see the hero’s costume till the very end. I’m saying this because Spoiler alert…that happens. You may be surprised to hear me say Madame Web wasn’t the worst comic book movie, i mean, look at Batman and Robin! I may have failed to see how this movie was awful like the other critics say, but is it bad enough to get such a lowest rating?

Yes. Yes it absolutely did. And there actually isn’t a single thing about the movie that doesn’t need any work.

Lift

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Rating: Half-Full

Genre: Heist, Comedy, Thriller, Action, Adventure

Studios: Netflix/Harbeat/Kinberg Genre Films/6th & Idaho Motion Picture Company

Cast: Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ursula Corbero, Billy Magnussen, Jacob Batalon, Jean Reno and Sam Worthington

Director: F. Gary Gray

Writer: Daniel Kunka

Producers: Audrey Chon, Kevin Hart, Adam Kassan, Simon Kinberg, Matt Reeves and Brian Smiley

Music by: Dominic Lewis and Guillaume Roussel

Rated: PG-13 for violence and action, suggestive material and some language

Release Date: 01/12/24

Runtime: 1h 47m

Tagline: The heist begins at 40,000 ft

Favorite Character: The Jet

Quote: “God, I really love that NFT.”- Cyrus

Fun Fact: The large painting in one of the scenes is a same painting that was stolen from a museum in Boston in 1990.

The Review: Prepare for takeoff! with your favorite comedian Kevin Hart on board, but does Lift make a good in-flight movie? I’m not sure.

Now let us meet the team! Your main thief, Cyrus (Kevin Hart), Pilot Camila (Ursula Corbero), Safecracker Magnus (Billy Magnussen), Korean hacker Mi-Sun (Kim Yoon-Ji), engineering expert Luke (Viveik Kalra) and the master of disguise Denton (Vincent D’Onofrio) and of course, like some of the other heist movies, they are criminals. It’s good to have a team, but perhaps giving them more characteristics would make the characters more

The opening was pretty eye catching to me, but mostly from the golden mask worn by an NFT artist that goes by N8, who rather remains anonymous, just like musicians Daft Punk, Deadmau5 and Marshmello. What is NFT? It is a Non Fundable Token which people sold for thousands or millions, yeah, i don’t understand all that stuff, but that’s what Cyrus and his team are stealing in the opening. Spider-Man fans will flip when N8 was forced to remove his mask, revealing it to be Jacob Batalon! Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong, but I think this is probably the first heist movie where the team steals an NFT.

Shortly after the NFT heist, the criminals are caught by Interpol agent Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who is willing to give them a second chance providing that they, big surprise, pull a huge heist. Stealing the bar of gold, in the plane, while 40,000 ft in the air! Now if you are confused, there is a billionaire (Jean Reno) in Zurich working with the cyber terrorists that are plotting to flood cities, so in other words, that greedy man is willing to make a profit at the cost of a lot of lives. I actually believe that sounds like what real life greedy people would do in real life, so I give this villain written by screen writer Danial Kunka a credit.

The coolest character in the movie would probably be…a high tech private jet. Yes, a high tech jet. It can spell out messages on the bottom, has a cool design inside (with a stripper pole) and for most of the time, covered in steel plates to avoid detection while going under the commercial airliner that contains gold! While it does sound like a crazy plan, it wasn’t even that unique. In fact, it may actually have been done in multiple films like Lift.

Now I do appreciate F. Gary Gray for trying his best to pull off this heist thriller and i don’t see how this movie lacks excitement, but with so many cliches in the film and the fact that I barely even notice that it was comedy, Lift went in the rough landing but if you want a simple thriller, this probably will do.

American Fiction

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Rating: Overflowing

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Studios: MGM Studios/Orion Pictures/MRC/T-Street

Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Oritz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Issa Rae and Sterling K Brown

Director: Cord Jefferson

Writer: Cord Jefferson

Based on: the novel Erasure by Percival Everett

Producers: Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios and Ben LeClair

Music by: Laura Karpman

Rated: R for language throughout, some drug use, sexual references and brief violence

Release Date: 12/15/23

Runtime: 1h 57m

Tagline: N/A

Favorite Character: Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison

Quote: “Geniuses are loners because they can’t connect with the rest of us.”- Agnes Ellison

Fun Fact: This is Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut.

The Review: If you have read the movie summary before seeing it, you might noticed that it sounds a little familiar, like Mel Brooks satiric comedy ‘The Producers’ This is kind of like that, but instead of two guys scheming to make a flop for profit, American Fiction brings us a writer and college professor that writes for a joke with unexpected results.

Thelonious Ellison (played spectacularly by Jeffrey Wright that earned him a well deserved Oscar nomination) going by ‘Monk’ throughout the movie, has taken a rocky turn as a professor when he wrote a quote with the N-Word in it and it offends one the students. With that, he is required to take some time off and return to his home in Boston. Not that he’s doing great as a writer either. His books have been selling poorly and being called out for his books not being black enough. And if that wasn’t bad enough, a unexpected family tragedy has hit!

But with family tragedy, brings us an entertaining and comical satire. Monk writes a book about stereotypical African American gangsters with some guns, gangsta cliches and of course, dialogue with a bunch of N words in it. What’s really memorable about that scene is two of his characters (portrayed by Okieriete ‘Oak’ Onaodowan and Keith David) came alive while he’s doing his work and gave us what is not only what’s in Monk’s twisted mind, but basically a gangsta type tropes you see in media. Of course, the book was supposed to be a gag novel that Monk wasn’t meant to take seriously, but to his surprise, the publishers were, for some what reason, impressed with his writing. Adding to the hilarity was when Monk’s decided to give us a controversial title. I’m not going to say what it is, but you are gonna be like, WTF in a amusing way.

But there is one character that also deserved a shout out and that character is Sterling K. Brown’s Clifford ‘Cliff’ Ellison. And to me, he may be a guy with stereotypical brother of the hood like characteristics, but with some unique touches of homosexuality, he manages to stand out as a supporting character (and receive an Oscar nomination). And don’t worry, i did not forget about Mock’s love interest, his mother who’s slowly losing her memory, etc.

I may not know who Cord Jefferson is, but it seems he may have a potential directing career. Maybe it would have to do with the fact that his signature achievement delivers social commentary with mockery and humor and added some of the heart and family drama. Racism may be a serious topic, but with this, we could use a chuckle and some of the touching family story.

Society of the Snow (La Sociedad de la Nieve)

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Rating: Overflowing

Genre: Survival, Drama, Adventure, Biopic

Studios: Netflix/Mision de Audaces films/El Arriero Films

Cast: Enzo Vogrincic, Matias Recalt, Agustin Pardella, Felipe Gonzalez Otano, Luciano Chatton, Valentino Alonso, Francisco Romero, Agustin Berruti, Andy pruss, Simon Hempe, Juan Caruso, Esteban Bigliardi, Rocco Posca, Esteban Kukuriczka, Rafael Federman, Manuela Olivera, Agustin Della Corte and Tomas Wolf

Director: J. A. Bayona

Writers: J. A. Bayona, Nicolas Casariego, Jaime Marques and Bernat Vilaplana

Based on: the true events

Producers: Belen Atienza, J. A. Bayona and Sandra Hermida

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Rated: R for violent/disturbing material and brief graphic nudity

Release Date: 01/04/24

Runtime: 2h 24m

Tagline: N/A

Favorite Character: Numa Turcatti

Quote: “We huddle together the best we can. Living and dead, as one.”- Numa Turcatti

Fun Facts: There are already several films about the Andes crash site.

Tourists can actually visit the crash site.

It was submitted for the Best International film at the Oscars, and it has been nominated!

The film was shot in chronical order.

The Review: I did see a couple of J. A. Bayona’s films (The Impossible with the young Tom Holland, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and given that he’s a Spanish filmmaker, why wouldn’t he do a movie in Spanish. The tale was spoken in Spanish by actual South American actors, making this survival tale more accurate, unlike the 1993’s ‘Alive’ (which i never heard of before) when the cast doesn’t look as believable as Society of the Snow.

Now getting on with the story, In case you haven’t heard, Society of the Snow is a true story about a Uruguayan Rugby team who is on their way to Chile for a Rugby match. Rather than taking a commercial plane, they took a FH-227 to Santiago which holds 45 people, but 10 minutes into the film, the audience knew exactly where this is gonna go. And it’s into the Andes… in the middle of nowhere! The crash landing really went for the rough landing, which is what was supposed to be. The shaky camera really helped give the movie watchers such a shaky feeling. Once the plane crash sequence was finished, you might need to take a second to catch your breath!

You probably know this but by the end, only 16 people survive. If you do know the number while watching this, your insanity would be put to the test! Being in the mountains, with hardly any food, have only a broken down plane for shelter and no way to contact anybody for help doesn’t sound all that pleasant. That is what makes this story so incredible, was being stuck in the middle of nowhere with minimal supplies. But I do have to let you know, getting attached to the characters can be a bit risky.

What’s so infamous about this whole incident is when the survivors are forced to go to do the unthinkable, cannibalism but luckily, it’s only off the ones who already deceased. Luckily, Bayona has attempted to keep the cannibalism imagery to the minimal by shooting it from one of the survivors perspective, otherwise, we may have a controversial moments from audience when they throw up. Actually, the cannibalism was already controversial when everyone was outraged about their actions in the mountains, but i think it’s a great idea to leave the aftermath out of this biopic otherwise, it would take away what makes this film so extraordinary.

To make a long story short, Society of the Snow is probably, without a doubt, the best survival movie of the decade so far. And it’s all thanks to Bayona’s fantastic direction for making this a powerful and unforgettable experience. (And congrats on the film getting a nomination for the International films category at the Oscars! I hope it wins!)

Migration

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Rating: Full

Genre: Animation, Family, Comedy, Adventure

Studios: Universal Pictures/Illumination

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Casper Jennings, Tresi Gazal, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina and Danny DeVito

Director: Benjamin Renner

Writers: Benjamin Renner and Mike White

Producers: Chris Meledandri

Music by: John Powell

Rated: PG for action/peril and mild rude humor

Release Date: 12/22/23

Runtime: 1h 23m

Tagline: Odd ducks welcome

Favorite Character: Pam

Quote: “He’s like a predator, but instead of eating you, he serves you to a bunch of lazier predators.”- Chump

Fun Facts: At the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, they have a Uncle Dan balloon to promote the film.

Almost all humans don’t have speaking roles in the movie.

Summary: A family of ducks take a trip of their lifetime to Jamacia all while encountering some bumps along the way.

The Review: Nine months before Migration, Illumination released a billion dollar haul the Super Mario Brothers Movie which feels rushed but beautifully animated while Migration on the other hand, has a well paced plot but the animation doesn’t beat Mario. Still Migration is not only the best family adventure of 2023 but is the best Illumination project of 2023 (sorry Mario).

The story follows what may be your animated movie family. There’s a overprotected dad (Kumail Nanjiani), a adventurous mom (Elizabeth Banks), a adolescence son (Casper Jennings), a cute little daughter (Tresi Gazal) and Danny DaVito’s standout family member, Uncle Dan. and of course there are a couple of characters which may not be Illumination’s most memorable but can be easily remembered if you take the same trip like them. The audience on Awkwafina’s tough talking one legged pigeon that goes by the name ‘Chump’ that could probably form a NWA-like rap group with a couple other pigeons.

Migration is a lot like National Lampoons Vacation but instead of things go hilariously wrong, they face actual peril and from the ducks, many of the humans are one of the duck’s predator. So it may be a little dark for the kiddies in the audience. There is, however, big glimmers of light along the journey. One of the stereotypical moments from a family vacation is when a child has to use a bathroom. The scene where Gwen has to go weewee play perfectly for the ducks who has to go while flying.

Now for the antagonist, he is a poorly tempered fine dining chef that makes Gordan Ramsey tantrums sound tolerable. But I will give the Chef credit for his Duck a l’Orange. The idea for the villain is pretty obvious for a movie about a flock of ducks, nevertheless the design for him is truly ruthless so it’s practical enough but the one problem i have for him is that his lack of voice. Instead it’s just grunts and groans. Would it kill to have a voice actor for the chef? I mean Jason Statham could actually kill it.

So in conclusion, Migration is one of the animated films that is pretty pleasure for families to do during the winter but unfortunatally, wouldn’t make the Oscar animated shortlist. One last thing, if it still plays in theaters, you will be able to catch a short minions film ‘Mooned’ and see what happens to Victor after the first Despicable Me film.

Rebel Moon-part one: A Child of Fire

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Rating: Half-Full

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Space Opera

Studios: Netflix/The Stone Quarry

Cast: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam and Anthony Hopkins

Director: Zack Snyder

Writers: Shay Hatten, Kurt Johnstad and Zack Snyder

Producers: Wesley Coller, Eric Newman, Deborah Snyder and Zack Snyder

Music by: Tom Holkenborg

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, sexual assault, bloody images, language, sexual material and partial nudity

Release Date: 12/21/23

Runtime: 2h 13m

Tagline: War comes to every world.

Favorite Character: Tarak

Quote: “It’s a new age for the universe.”- Jimmy

Fun Facts: The Rebel Moon film was in development for 30 years.

It was meant to be a Star Wars movie before Rebel Moon became its own world.

Summary: When a powerful army threatens the peasants for not having enough grain for them, one of the farmers journeys to different planets to recruit an army for the upcoming battle.

The One Liner Review: What happened here was Snyder had ripped off the Star Wars franchise and slapped in visual stunning cinematography and some entertaining scenes to make it a so-called original Sci-Fi world but could part 2 win over the audience? We’ll see.