netflix

Glen Powell is already a rising star and Netflix’s Hit Man really helps with that.

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

Rating: Overflowing

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Action

Studios: Netflix/AGC Studios/Monarch Media/ShivHans Pictures/Barnstorm

Cast: Glenn Powell, Adria Arjona Torres, Austin Amelio and Reeta

Director: Richard Linklater

Writers: Richard Linklater and Glenn Powell

Based on: the Texas Monthly magazine article by Skip Hollandsworth

Producers: Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, Dylan King, Richard Linklater and Glenn Powell

Music by: Graham Reynolds

Rated: R for language throughout, sexual content and some violence

Release Date: 06/07/24

Runtime: 1h 55m

Tagline: He’s not a killer, but he can pretend.

Favorite Character: Gary Johnson

Quote: “All pie is good pie.”- Gary Johnson

Fun Fact: Why doesn’t Hit Man take place in Texas like it did in real life? Well there are financial difficulties down in that state, so it was much easier to set the film in New Orleans.

The Review: Have you heard of someone named ‘Gary Johnson?’ Neither do I. And no, it’s not the 29th Governer of New Mexico. It’s someone who was played by Top Gun Maverick’s Glen Powell who we are about to see as a cowboy from the upcoming disaster film ‘Twisters’. Before the action comedy starts, there is a little reminder that this is sorta a true story, after all, why wouldn’t Hollywood exaggerate? Then it wouldn’t be Hollywood.

Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) lives in New Orleans with two cats, living a simple life (oblivious to Powell’s simple narration) making a living by giving wisdom to his students as a Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at University of New Orleans. Doesn’t sound like it was all that exciting, but most people don’t know he has another job, a secret job, a part time Undercover Cop job. At first he doesn’t actually get into a role as a fake hitman until his trusty-ish coworker Jasper (Austin Amelio), who does play that part, got suspended.

Because of that moment, Gary realized he must step in to slap on different disguises and accents, something Split’s James McAvoy would have been proud of. That pretty much gives us a full on montage of getting his into mug shot photos. The montage may slow down the first act, but damn it was so funny and entertaining to see Powell portraying some made up characters within the movie (especially when he tries to impersonate Patrick Bateman)!

His agency coworkers (Sanjay Rao and Reeta) was so impressed that by the time Jasper comes back, he was replaced much to his annoyance. Gary’s improvising works, maybe a little too well. He was just sitting in a cafe as a hitman named Ron, eating pie, when comes in a distressing woman (Adria Arjona) seeking his make believe service to take out her asshole husband. And according to the movie, all it took to get the romance motor running was a couple of cat jokes, which may or may not work in real life, at least Gary didn’t try to woo her with couple of awful pickup lines.

Along the rest of the movie, is those two lovebirds getting on, while Gary tries to balance between his University job and playing the role as sexy Ron. All while dealing with a speed bump of Madison’s abusive husband (Evan Holtzman) they ran into at the club. Consider this to be a Hollywood movie, I know Madison will eventually find out ‘Ron’s’ true identity sometime in the running time. So whenever the time comes, brace yourself.

Now thinking about it, Hit Man may be a campaign to have Powell voted as People Magazine’s sexiest Man of the Year for 2024! Writers Linklater and Powell seems to have done that and add some twists and turns as well as some of the other ingredients to make an almost perfect romantic action comedy. If so then mission accomplished.

Part 2 of the Rebel Moon saga is completely shallow even though it is full of Snyder spectacle

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

Rating: Half-Full

Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action, Adventure

Studios: Netflix/The Stone Quarry/Grand Electric

Cast: Sofia Baoutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher 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, brief strong language and suicide

Release Date: 04/19/24

Runtime: 2h 2m

Tagline: N/A

Favorite Character: Titus

Quote: “Power over the grain is power over all!”- Atticus Noble

Fun Fact: N/A

The Review: Zack Snyder is known for giving the audience some of the comic book style visuals. It’s no wonder he gave DC fans some of the DC treatment. So the question is, why did he rip off the Star Wars franchise?

Last time we saw Nora (Sofia Boutella) have defeated…no…killed the space terrorist Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) in the climax of Rebel Moon’s first part, The Child of Fire. But because there is a sequel and Skrein is returning, we all know he isn’t going to be dead for too long. And Snyder chose to just resurrect him with a machine that puts him in a cocoon like a Mogwai coming out to wreck havoc. Oh and it includes a obviously rubber chest for Skrein. Nothing else.

If you haven’t seen The Child of Fire. Then no need to spend two hours and fourteen minutes watching the whole story just to catch up. Our good friend Sir Anthony Hopkins (who voiced Snyder’s C3PO that goes by JC-1435) is able to save us time by giving a recap to Child of Fire. And for the entire movie, the Warriors from other planets we met in Part 1 and Villagers prepping for a climatic battle that actually started earlier than any action movie, so that was actually cool.

There is one thing about making a good world building movie, and that is that it takes time. Snyder should really have taken a year off just to put together a decent space opera. Snyder tries to be a next George Lucas and it all ends with weak storyline with an okay battle scenes. However, despite Snyder’s lousy way of telling a story, it is pretty much a visual feast like his other films. Given Rebel Moon Snyder’s project, we see some cool visuals, decent looking FX and had Tom Holkenborg had composed siren song filled score.

For my One Liner review for the 1st part of Rebel Moon, I asked if part 2 will win over the audience. The answer was that there is no easy answer. Some will watch in awe, some will watch in cringe. And I had no doubt Snyder could put more love into this space opera, but the VFX was fine the way it is. Many people not know this but Part one made the 10 finalist list for the Visual Effects category at the Oscars!

Damsel

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

Rating: Empty

Genre: Fantasy,

Studios: Netflix

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone, Brooke Carter, Nick Robinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Angela Bassett and Robin Wright

Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Writer: Dan Mazeau

Producers: Chris Castaldi, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Joe Roth

Music by: David Fleming

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of strong creature violence, action and bloody images

Release Date: 03/08/24

Runtime: 1h 50m

Tagline: This is not a Fairytale

Favorite Character: Elodie

Quote: “This is the end of your story.”- Elodie

Fun Fact: N/A

The Review: Once upon a time, there was a Fast X screenwriter in Los Angeles who decide to try pull off a unique take on the classic stories like Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Princess and the Pea, etc. He wanted the script to have both Fairy Tales and Game of Thrones vibes. Eventually, he did succeeded in putting it on Netflix, but what he failed at is trying to make us appreciate old tale like 2007’s Enchanted and the Shrek franchise did.

The story begins with two girls Elodie (Eleven aka Millie Bobby Brown) and Floria (Brooke Carter) living in a village suffering with hunger and their father (Ray Winstone) and Stepmother (Angela Bassett) waiting for a miracle. If a miracle means arranged marriage to the prince of Aurea (Nick Robinson), then that is exactly what they got. Arriving there, we meet the queen of Aurea (Robin Wright) and the Prince being the one to marry Elodie. Before the wedding, things are going as expectedly well with an exception of the stepmother having a feeling that something is about to go wrong.

Then the wedding begins and it looks like Elodie is gonna get her happily ever after after all…but, as we guess, that didn’t happen. Instead the Prince does the unthinkable by throwing his new wife in the pit of the black, badly designed dragon (with a well done voice acting courtesy of Shohreh Aghdashloo) whose CGI tail was whipping too fast. This all turned out to be a royal sacrifice to keep the kingdom at peace. It wasn’t until later (but not too soon either) that Millie Bobby Brown went from being a princess to being Eleven in the different era.

The main point of Damsel was supposed to be that princesses can be warriors like Princess Merida from 2012’s Pixar film Brave. Sadly, Elodie’s characteristics has more Damsel in distress than the latter. Now with every evil there is good. What do i mean? I was talking about some of the redeeming qualities. The blue lightning in the cave not only saves the princess but the movie too. The best CGI in the movie has to go to the pretty looking glowing slugs that has a magic to heal wounds. And the climax wasn’t really too lousy since it went exactly the way I was gonna do if I am in that situation.

Hollywood has so many ways to twist fairy tales, but this one was made into a story that was slow, flat and has a lack of storytelling, like it was rejected by the publisher in the kingdom long, long ago.

Spaceman

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

Rating: Half-Full

Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama

Studios: Netflix

Cast: Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Lena Olin, Isebella Rossellini, and Paul Dano

Director: Johan Renck

Writer: Colby Day

Based on: the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar

Producers: Lia Buman, Reid Carolin, Timothy Headington, Peter Kiernan, Michael Parets, Max Silva and Channing Tatum

Music by: Max Richter

Rated: R for language

Release Date: 02/23/24

Runtime: 1h 47m

Tagline: N/A

Favorite Character: Hanus

Quote: “you may have boundaries, Skinny Human, Perhaps they are the cause of your loneliness.”- Hanus

Fun Fact: During filming, Carey Mulligan was really 8 months pregnant.

The Review: Adam Sandler has played different roles in 51 movies. That includes a dad, a golfer, a gambler, a vampire even a old class pet. Now let me tell you, this is like one of the few times Adam Sandler steps out of the Comedy and into the more dramatic genre. But instead of being a gambler, he is a lonesome astronaut who encounters bizarre moments along the way.

Sandler plays a Czech cosmonaut Jakub Prochazka who was in space for 6 months so far, determined to explore purple space dust before the South Korean astronauts. It lays besides Jupiter that is a spectacle when you see it from earth. Jakub was being troubled by his time on earth as he has a rocky relationship with his wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan). She was pregnant for a second time, Unfortunally her first time was a mother worst nightmare, miscarriage. What doesn’t make it better was rather than being there for her, he is more focused on his career. Despite all that, she still tries to contact her husband with no luck.

Meanwhile, Jakub is having a situation on his own. It started with him having a dream when something is crawling in Jakub’s face. It’s pretty clear that its a spider, but the effect on Sandler’s face is fake looking. That might be scary in 1979’s Alien, but in Spaceman, it looks ridiculous! And speaking of Aliens, There’s a unwelcome stowaway on the ship. And that stowaway is just a giant talking spider voiced by Paul Deno. Fortunally, Deno’s performance as a ET spider is a highlight of the story. And he is trying to be a wise man on the mountain kind of character giving advice to Jakub. What makes the spider interesting was his name. Jakub named him Hanus, after a legendary builder who constructed a astronomical clock in Prague.

Before watching the movie, you might get an idea that it’s about loneliness with emotion. However, it’s not just that. There is also something else that plays the part of the film. This movie contains something as Hunus likes to call ‘The Beginning of the Universe’ It could be literally or figuratively. Or both. Either way, it didn’t really give us a convincing message of life. And while that’s true, The begining of the Universe was really pretty to look at.

Johan Renck’s feature film may really be a little bit confusing, but as long as it has a visually dazzling climax, i think it would make an OK watch. The space odyssey is like Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar but instead of finding a new planet, Spaceman focuses more on a message with weird content.

Lift

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

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.

Society of the Snow (La Sociedad de la Nieve)

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

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!)

Rebel Moon-part one: A Child of Fire

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

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.

Maestro

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

Rating: Full

Genre: Biopic, Romance, Drama, Comedy

Studios: Netflix/Sikelia Productions/Lea Pictures/Amblin Entertainment

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer and Vincenzo Amato

Director: Bradley Cooper

Writers: Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer

Producers: Fred Berner, Bradley Cooper, Amy Durning, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Martin Scorsese and Steven Speilberg

Music by: Leonard Bernstein

Rated: R for some language and drug use

Release Date: 12/20/23

Runtime: 2h 9m

Tagline: N/A

Favorite Character: Leonard Bernstein

Quote: “I love music so much it keeps me glued to life even when I’m most depressed, and I can get very deeply depressed.”- Leonard Bernstein

Fun Facts: Steven Spielberg was gonna direct the film.

Bradley Cooper did not attend the premiere due to SAG-AFTRA strike.

Bradley Cooper has been interested in conducting at 8 years old, thus making him excited for the main role.

Bradley Cooper spent six years trying to duplicate Bernstein’s conduction of his piece that’s over six minutes.

Summary: Maestro tells a true story of a romantic relationship between American conductor Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felica Montealegre.

The One Liner Review: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan and the film’s Cinematography are the real stars of this artistic biopic but i must warn you, it’s not for those who easily doze off at a symphony concert (like me).

Leave the World Behind

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

Rating: Full

Genre: Apocalyptic, Thriller

Studios: Netflix/Higher Grounds Productions

Cast: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la and Kevin Bacon

Director: Sam Esmail

Writer: Sam Esmail

Based on: a novel by Rumaan Alam

Producers: Sam Esmail, Lisa Gillian, Chad Hamilton, Julia Roberts and Marisa Yeres Gill

Music by: Mac Quayle

Rated: R for language, some sexual content, drug use, and brief bloody images

Release Date: 11/22/23

Runtime: 2h 18m

Tagline: There’s no going back to Normal.

Favorite Character: Rose Sandford

Quotes: “I think I’m done waiting.”- Rose Sandford

Fun Facts: You probably didn’t notice but the painting in the living room and the bedroom’s wall art changes as the film goes along.

Mahershala Ali’s role was originally gonna be played by Denzel Washington

Barack and Michelle Obama executive produced this film.

Summary: A family getaway turns haywire when two strangers show up at the door and at the same time, the cyberattack hit NYC.

The One Liner Review: Yes, the audience probably won’t be pleased but the film about a cyberattack doesn’t fail to entertain me and i am pleased with suspense filled scenes and who knows, that mysterious ending may mean something.

Leo

~ fewburnedkurnels ~ Leave a comment

Rating: Full

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Musical

Studios: Netflix/Happy Madison Productions

Cast: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Rob Schneider, Jo Koy, Allison Strong, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Robert Smigel and Nick Swardson

Directors: Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim

Writers: Paul Sado, Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel

Producers: Adam Sandler and Mireille Soria

Music by: Geoff Zanelli

Rated: PG for rude/suggestive material and some language

Release Date: 11/21/23

Runtime: 1h 42m

Tagline: Breaking out this November

Favorite Character: Leo

Quote: “Guys, you don’t have to be afraid of change. Change is a beautiful part of life.”- Mrs. Salinas

Fun Facts: On the shelf of Summer’s room are bobbleheads of Conan O’Brian, Billie Ellish and Chubbs from Happy Gilmore

This film actually prevented Adam Sandler from voicing Dracula in Hotel Transylvania 4.

Summary: In a Florida elementary school, a class pet lizard believes he only has a year left to live and tends to try to escape, with unexpected results.

The One Liner Review: Adam Sandler usually does comedy movies…but this one, he gave us something moving and if you wanted the one from the class pets eye…this is the film for you.