(Review by Chase Lee)
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Friday, October 23, 2020
Time
Studio: Amazon Studios
It’s “TIME” to be released!
Director Garrett Bradley brings the audience the story of a strong woman named Fox Rich who has spent 20 years on the mission of getting her husband's prison sentence reduced. It was dated back somewhere in the late 90s, and the desperate couple were arrested for armed bank robbery. Though Fox took the plea bargain, while her husband Rob did not.
TIME focuses on Fox Rich who has served less than three years for her involvement in the robbery, while a Louisiana judge sentenced Rob to sixty, with no allowance or guarantee for parole. At that time, Fox was pregnant with twins when Rob was sentenced. She later has six boys and now becomes a full-time mother taking care of her children while she works to support them and to release her husband. Director Bradley expertly weaves clips from the home videos Fox recorded for Rob with 'in the moment' discussions and observations of her attempts to get someone in the system to hear the case.
The director, the crew (including Lauren-Paul Jobs as executive producer) and the film itself did a perfect job on providing some really good conveying messages on female empowerment, the culture of black representation, and bringing the listening, understandable effects of incarceration of one family (or more) expertly and slowly. Bradley demonstrates on how any person like Rich herself And what can be brighter is the music (with mostly just beautiful piano playing in the background) that often overpowers the dialogue throughout.
When TIME was released at the Sundance Film Festival 2020, it received a heartwarming reception coming from the critics and audiences respectively. This was mainly due to the film being strikeable resemblances to the family emotions and societal issues being spread all over.
Though the only thing that is wrong with the film is the horrendous sound mixing technique on the first half of the film, but the plot and the story seem flawless and easy to follow from that perspective. In addition, the black-and-white images blennd perfectly to give some sort of a feel of being a documentary film that was made somewhere in the 1950s or 60s’ decade, or what others addressed these times as the segregation era.
TIME is a wondrous 80-minute documentary feature film. The Rich family and the filmmaking crew did an outstanding job putting all the video clips, commentaries, and interviews together in one huge documentary film. I would heavily believe that this film may be a fine contender for an Oscar nomination for that consideration. If you love to hear and see more about this film, I say go watch it if you want to dive deeper into history.
GRADE: A
(Review by Henry Pham)
Evil Eye
Studio: Amazon Studios
Review: Evil Eye!
Upon reviewing the poster and the trailer, my mind is heavily believed to be a horror/thriller film, it turns out that this film is meant to be horror and romantic film altogether, which is pretty new to my viewing pleasures. Any romantic film is not about the relationships between a boy and a girl, it’s about friendships and family. To be precise, not all films center around the boy or girl who gets the relationship of someone from the very beginning to the very end as part of the film’s complex. Evil Eye is also joining in as one of the films being part of the main Blumhouse horror features for that lineup, along with Black Box and The Lie. The film is directed by Elan and Rajeev Dassani and stars Sarita Choudhury, Sunita Mani, Bernard White, and Omar Maskati. Producer Jason Blum and actress Priyanka Chopra will also serve as executive producers for the film.
Evil Eye primarily focuses on the complicated relationship between a mother and a daughter named Pavvali, with the latter having a new boyfriend whose about to become Pavvali’s husband, of which her mother disapproves and fears due to her boyfriend being the connection of her darkest past that ends up coming back.
Here, the legendary Sarita Choudhury (Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and 2) plays a meatier role as Pavvali’s mother named Usha while the actress Sunita Mani (GLOW) portrays as Pavvali and Omar Maskati as Sandeep who is Pavvali’s new boyfriend who turns to be her mother’s abusive ex-boyfriend. Bernard White (Captain America: the Winter Soldier) also appears as Krishnan, Usha’s husband and Pavvali’s supportive father.
Under the direction from Elan and Rajeev Dassani, the duo took every ounce and steps to build up a fine piece of work that includes adding some Indian-Asian cultural values and concepts of reincarnation to the family focus. Along with that, the directors and the producers throw Choundary’s character some karma-meditation practices that affects her meddling, somewhat dysfunctional relationship with her husband and her daughter as the film progresses. Choudhary’s character as Pavvali’s mother carries the main screentime as her darkest past triggers her PTSD hypnosis. Her past and backstory flash with violence as her experiences with an abusive boyfriend, who refuses to accept rejection and moving on with his life, endangers her and her daughter, which is what makes the film very interesting to see for both audiences and critics out there with the impeccable balance between mother-and-daughter time and a girl-meets-boy nature. Even when the music from Ronit Kirchman sounded ambiguous for that old-school Indian-Amercian tradition.
On the downside, the only big problem is the script for that New Orleans setting which doesn’t have any cultures nor all-things Louisiana related as the setting is shown to be highly technological. From the looks of it, the city looks like it’s from either New York or any big cities outside of Louisiana just to give it a strong elevation between the main focus on any city in the U.S. and India. Over the top, the plot and the story flow really slowly and smoothly as if any actor or filmmaker knows how to play their cards right. Another one is the directors overdoing the making of Omar Maskati’s abusive character rather than focusing on the two main characters.
Overall, Evil Eye is really ok for that 90-minute feature presentation. I can hardly notice that this film is a taut thriller or horror that remains engrossing with a fabulous twist of romance blossoming in the air and bringing some cultural perspective of supernatural darker tones that highly-spring into the family drama for a mother-daughter focus onscreen. Thank goodness for visual aids because my description of that and my ways of brainstorming for this film are pretty confusing. If you want to watch this movie, be my guest and go watch it. If not, then pick something else.
GRADE: C-
Review by Henry Pham
Antebellum
So readers know, this has nothing to do with anything that came from the mind of Jordan Peele, who became an Oscar-winning writer after the success of “Get Out,” which received big bonus points from me for its ingenuity.
Like his both Bush and Renz throw in a plethora of McGuffin’s with “Antebellum,” in which modern day technology is spliced in with Civil War themes and mores of yesteryear.
Also worth mentioning is the appearance of lead Janelle Monáe, who is an important part in today’s modern world. Her character, Veronica Henley is a best-selling author and proppant to a strong woman’s movement, whose change takes place in a strong way when she gets kidnapped and force to live in a post Civil War days era.
It has just enough twists and turns to keep one’s interest throughout. I have said in Bush and Renz are on my must-see list in the furure. the past I don’t like reviewing horror movies, but both has been put on my list of must watch for sure.
This is a definite must for the theater experience. I wish I could have seen it at the movies, but times they have a changed, so watching it at home was a tough pill to swallow.
Looking back, I think my last theatre experience was watching either Blumhouse’s “The Hunt,” as well as “Birds of Prey: (The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn”).
This is almost where I can tell you no more since I will be doing viewers a disservice by giving away too many easter eggs to the events that occur. “ “Antenellum” is like a chapter in the Marvel universe wherein if I talk too much, the bad people will come and find me.
Even though this year will have more titles in it, it is safe to put this one on my ten best of the year.
Grade: A-
(Review by Ricky Miller)
Sunday, October 11, 2020
Force of Nature
I can’t believe how far has star power has fallen.
Going back to the mid-’90s with titles like “Ransom” (1996) and “What Women Want” (2000) Mel Gibson was the go-to for any movie viewer, myself included.
I, of course am talking about Gibson who used to be on the top of most moviegoers must watch lists. More recently, he directed the war action picture “Hacksaw Ridge,” (2016) which won multiple Oscars.
With his latest entry, “Force of Nature,” he is a grizzled cop who does not want to leave his residence despite the category five hurricane outside the front door of his high rise.
Also in the cast are Kate Bosworth (“Blue Crush,” (2002), “Superman Returns” (2006) and Emile Hirsch. (“The Girl Next Door,” (2004), “Speed Racer” (2008).
I am of the rare breed that could care less about his behavior in that I just want to see him on the big screen!
In “Force of Nature,” he tackles the grizzly cop role again as Ray Barrett who refuses to leave the high rise in which he resides. His nurse daughter, Troy (Kate Bosworth) oversees his life and is by his side. He resides in a foreign land: South America.
This one, however is all about the heist.
The bad guy here is a villain named John (David Zayas, TV’s “Dexter” (2006), “The Expendables” (2010), a mean-spirited baddie who indiscriminately kills people for just being in the way. In a nice change of pace, the almighty dollar is not the endgame reward.
Directing chores for “Nature” were handled by Michael Polish, who handled the intriguing “Northfork” in the early part of this decade, (2003) to be exact. He handles the pacing well, but the end result is merely “meh,” since this one does not end with a bang, rather a somber whimper.
What I’m waiting for net is both the prequel to his “Passion of the Christ” and yet another “Lethal Weapon” entry. They might be older, but they are not in wheelchairs yet.
So the reader knows I watched this on Amazon Prime.
If one has the time, “Nature” is worth the journey, despite the meh comments as well.
Grade: C+
(Review by Ricky Miller)
The War With Grandpa
Review: The War With Grandpa
Family comedy films are something lots of people would take advantage of when it comes to finding a subtle movie as a family outing for both children and adults. If one must take Robin Williams’ Hook for example, then the one must see the magical, but funnier experience where all the kids can enjoy their laughs together. The War With Grandpa is based on the novel written by author Robert Kimmel Smith. Spongebob Squarepants alumnus Tim Hill fills the role as the director of the film while legendary actor Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II, Raging Bull) stars as the children’s grandfather named Ed.
The War With Grandpa focuses on a young boy Peter who works to get his grandfather to move out of his room after he moves in with his family by orchestrating a plethora of devious pranks until his grandfather fights back by knowing all the pranks and tricks up in his sleeves.
While the film is written by screenwriters Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, the dialogue seems a bit dry on and pretty much confusing when it comes to having dysfunctional families that don’t get along each other, the director and the writing teams have been circling the main focus and the scenes involving the chemistry between De Niro’s and Fegley’s characters to fit the role for an father-and-son dynamic duo. The chemistry really brings much more depth and produces strong, yet rebellious character developments like how the filmmakers have studied the relationships between Homer and Bart Simpson in the television series.
Speaking of television series, director Tim Hill, having been working on Spongebob Squarepants and other cartoon shows, uses his comedy-gag routine from his shows to craft a feature film that produces some scenes that not only involves the increasable relationship between those two characters mentioned above but also gives a little fundamentals on the things that they enjoyed doing while they’re young.
With that in mind, the director did provide some blueprints on this film with several concepts and intakes from the film that can be highly comparable like the unlikable Going in Style (starring Michael Caine), Daddy’s Home (with Will Ferrell and Mark Walhberg), and other comedy films people can name them. While this film gives lots of laughs though, the story didn’t flow straight on for that matter when it comes to crafting a film that fits the genre for comedy films for both families and children.
Here in the film we have Oakes Fegley (2016’s Pete’s Dragon) who plays as Ed’s grandson named Peter who is forced to give up his room to his grandfather when he moves in. Child actress Poppy Gagnon stars in the film as Jennifer, the youngest sister while Laura Marano (Disney Channel’s Austin & Ally) portrays Mia, the older sister to both Peter and Jennifer. Actors Uma Thurman and Rob Riggle portray as the parents for Peter, Mia, and Jennifer with Thurman being heavily portrayed as Ed’s daughter as well.
Also appearing in the film are Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Walken who are portrayed as Ed’s friends who assist him in the battle of pranks against Peter.
The War With Grandpa is an average 95-minute movie. I didn’t love it or hate it, I only focused and enjoyed the comedy too much and the performances from Robert De Niro and Oakes Fegley mainly, but some actors' performances portraying as family members do not really help with those two characters, especially Thurman’s role as a mother which gives me a center of distaste. I believe the director adds too much input rather than focusing on other characters’ personas in order to make a good movie that kids enjoy. I really don’t want to tell, I mean, it’s an old-school comedy routine dated back in the 1990s and 2000s. It would be a difficult choice to choose this film to get rid of the stress in desperation.
GRADE: C
(Review by Henry Pham)
Black Box
Review: Black Box!
Thrillers can be something exciting, but also nervousing and scary for one’s own movie-viewing advantages. Black Box serves as a directorial debut for Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour. Before he directed this, he has directed several short films over the years. This film is the first of the eight films to be given a Blumhouse Studios’ deal with Amazon Studios under Blumhouse’s own television division. Actors Mamoudou Athie (Sorry for Your Loss) and Phylicia Rashad (NBC’s The Cosby Show) were given the main-leading roles while producer Jason Blum will be serving as an executive producer for this film.
Black Box centers on the man named Nolan, who, after losing his wife and his memory in a near-fatal car accident, undergoes an agonizing experimental treatment that causes him to question who he really is.
Mamoudou Athie portrays Nolan as a patient who suffered amnesia and injuries on his hand while Phylicia Rashad as Lilian, a doctor who performs an experimental surgery on him. Aside from those two, child actress Amanda Christine appears as Ana, Nolan’s daughter while Tosin Morohunfola (CW’s The Flash) plays as Gary.
With the script and the dialogue being delivered to the two main characters by Wade Allen-Marcus and Stephen Herman, the writers and director took every step and direction on filming a horror film based on Peele’s horror/thriller films, giving each scene some distant flavors from Peele’s experiences and borrow some of the tips and tricks from several Christopher Nolan’s films, including Inception and his most-recent film, Tenet. The film did include the usages of virtual reality on some scenes while most of the filming crew outdone the CGI parts, but from the looks of it, they both find a way to make the scenes happen compared the films being mentioned and following the recipe from the subtle Paranormal Activity film series. Additionally, the music coming from composer Brandon Roberts provides a wondrous, yet steadily musical beats to fit that genre for any horror films, like Jaws for example.
While the film is unique to watch, there are some difficult parts of the film that are extremely hard to digest scene by scene, which are the scenes with him remembering the things which gave myself some shivers, the violence being used in the second half of the film despite that there’s a child in the scenes, and the cutting-edge of the CGI usages which lacks focus on the characters and the film itself. My instinct is that filmmakers are putting much much effort into every scene being discussed at length. Over the top, the plot seems to flow gently and somewhat flawful.
Also appearing are Troy James who portrays as a silent Backwards Man who comes horrifyingly into Nolan's scenes and senses while being experimented by Lilian and Najah Bradley who appears as Rachel, Nolan’s late wife. And lastly, despite appearing almost the end is Donald Watkins as Thomas.
Black Box is an okay film, it clocks around 100 minutes to its regular length. Though I did not enjoy parts of it due its excruciating amounts of dark focal natures and the tone of the film. I kinda say, the director and the crew did it, but it’s just too much for that input as if people add too many candies in the bowl or bag just to make this film amazing and anticipated to watch for anyone's amusement. Speaking of horror films, Black Box may be the most nervousing choice for a movie-viewing pleasure at home as a Halloween treat for adults.
GRADE: C
(Review by Henry Pham)
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