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Showing posts from August, 2019

Crawl review

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With a movie like Crawl you've gotta have two things. Interesting characters and plenty of tension. Thankfully Crawl succeeds on both those accounts. Starring Kaya Scodelario Crawl's premise is pretty simple. Kaya is a young woman called Haley who after years of training to be a competitive swimmer with her dad by her side gets a call from her sister to say that he hasn't been returning her calls. This all coincides with an announcement of a category 5 hurricane set to hit the area very soon. So Haley takes it upon herself to go and look for her dad at her old family house. Unfortunately it's far from home now as both her parents have divorced and her mom is already seeing someone else. Upon arrival after disobeying orders of the local police advising her to not go any further Haley arrives at her family home and what she finds is not what she expected at all.. Directed by Alexandre Aja Crawl is a tension filled creature feature that will easily please. Kaya Scodel

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark review

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A group of friends, Halloween night and a Haunted House where inside a young woman was tortured to the point of suicide. Sounds pretty normal right?? well Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark's setup is pretty bog standard. Group of friends who are pretty much outcasts at their school decide to get together on their final Halloween together to get revenge on the bullies who made their lives extra difficult in High School. While out and dressed in Halloween get up they get the better of the bullies until they are forced into a car park which also just so happens to be showing Night of the Living Dead in it's drive-thru. With the help of a new friend they escape the bullies but before heading home they come across the house of The Bellows family. A high upper class family who all vanished from their town. And it is inside where the suicide of one Sarah Bellows took place many, many years ago. Upon exploring the house a secret entrance to a room below is found. Deep down into the

Dora and the Lost City of Gold review

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I'm not ashamed to admit that I watched a lot of Dora The Explorer growing up as I imagine plenty of other kids now adults did too. It was an educational albeit simple show at points but it was a lot of fun and the world and characters were all interesting and engaging. So when I first heard that Dora would be getting her own adventure movie I was a bit skeptical at first. But with the casting of Isabela Moner, Eva Longoria, Michael Pena and more my interest was certainly peaked. And it's not only great actors but even more incredible voice actors are brought into this universe as Danny Trejo voices Boots the Monkey who is Dora's childhood friend and who goes on all her adventures with. And Swiper the Fox who is voiced by Benicio Del Toro. All the characters from the animated show are here and it's all incredible charming.  Dora and the Lost City of Gold follows a slightly older Dora as she attempts to adjust to the life in the big city after spending years living i

Good Boys review

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At first glance Good Boys is just your regular run of the mill comedy about three young kids growing up and discovering life, and to an extent that is true here but there is a lot more here than meets the eye. Starring Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon as three sixth graders who decide to ditch school one day. Little known to them however they are carrying drugs from Tremblay's character's next door neighbor. While flying his dad's drone around it crash lands into her garden and she and her friend take the drone to show that women deserve more respect. Of course things don't end well for entire party as Noon's character ends up stealing one of the girl's bag which just so happens to have drugs inside.The three best friends hatch up a plan to trade the drugs back for the drone which is very important to Max (Tremblay)'s father as he needs it for work. Needless to say though things get a little bit hairy as the gang encounter a cop, a disloca

Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood review

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The 9th film from Quentin Tarantino is a tale of nostaglia, fame movies and the fading days of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Set in Los Angeles 1969 the story revolves around Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) the former a well known mainly TV actor and the latter his stuntman. After the cancellation of their hit show Bounty Law the pair are finding it more and more difficult to find roles in the industry with movies really taking off. Also starring Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood feels incredibly personal as you watch it. It's wonderfully written and while the pace is slow there really is a reason to it all. You'll need a lot of patience with this one but it does pay off as overall Tarantino has once again delivered a very unique and powerful move that draws you in from the get-go.  Performance wise the movie is great too with DiCaprio at peak form as Rick Dalton. For me however it's Brad Pitt who is just amazing th

Blinded by the Light review

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Everyone knows Bruce Springsteen. He was and is a music legend. His lyrics impactful and life changing. Blinded by the Light follows a young aspiring writer Pakistan boy living in the UK with his family named Javed. Played by Viveik Kalra he struggles to fit in not only in school / with people his own age but with his own family. His father is as strict as they come and wants him to do with he says without hesitation. Javed's entire life changes however when he is given two cassette tapes of Bruce Springsteen by a guy in his school. That night when he goes home just as he is about to toss all his poems, writings away he pops in Springsteen and hears his lyrics for the first time. What follows is a wild, fun and energetic ride that is as feel good as they come. First off there is really one stand out here and that is Viveik Kalra as Javed. He's shy and timid, funny and charming. He is the best part of Blinded by the Light by a country mile. But that's not to say the res

The Art of Racing in the Rain review

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Based on the best selling book of the same name The Art of Racing in the Rain tells the story of the most adorable Golden Retriever named Enzo and his bond with his owner a Formula One race car drive named Denny Swift. Right off the bat we're introduced to Enzo when he is a pup as he is literally pulled from a pen of puppies. Immediately taking a shine to Denny the pup proceeds to go on an adventure of a lifetime. The Art of Racing in the Rain is a little bit more unique than other dog movies however. As not only does it mainly revolve around Formula One racing but it is narrated by Enzo himself. Voice by Kevin Costner the way he talks and tells us the viewers about his day to day life is so charming. Amanda Seyfried also stars here and it is when she enters the life of Enzo and Denny that the movie changes and shifts into something else. The first opening 30 minutes are charming, funny and so childish at times but it was so engrossing. What follows however is dreary, dark and

Fast & Furious Presents : Hobbs & Shaw review

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Y'know the Fast & Furious franchise has never been one to shy away from extreme over the top action and that's not a bad thing at all. The trend continues very much so with this latest entry which is more of a spin-off rather than a full blown sequel to the other installments. The story this time revolves around an MI6 agent (Vanessa Kirby) who after being ambushed by an elite squad of soldiers led by super powered almost Black Superman (in his own words) Idris Elba takes a virus compound into her blood stream. Oh but this isn't just any ordinary virus. It's actually a chemical weapon that if fallen into the wrong hands could wipe out humanity as we know it. As far as set ups go it's pretty ordinary but really we're not here for an impeccable story now are we?? Enter Luke Hobbs then who is again played by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson a true mountain of a man and Deckard Shaw played again by Jason Statham. Two men who completely hate one another b