I’m talking movies with Jordan Jarrett-Bryan on UK-based talkSPORT radio! I’ll admit the films are minor, but the conversation is amusing. On Sunday, August 28th, I discussed the Liam Neeson action/thriller MEMORY which is a streaming rental on various platforms, and the horror prequel ORPHAN: FIRST KILL in theaters and on Paramount+. My appearance begins 3 minutes into the 2:30 – 3:00 hour (27 minutes from the end).
Source: Live Radio, Breaking Sports News, Opinion – talkSPORT
I’m talking movies on talkSPORT radio! On Sunday, August 21st I discussed DAY SHIFT starring Jaime Foxx on Netflix, and in theaters there’s BEAST, in which Idris Elba faces down a lion. My appearance begins 3 minutes into the 2:30 – 3:00 hour (27 minutes from the end).
Source: Live Radio, Breaking Sports News, Opinion – talkSPORT
Disappointment, thy name is Three Thousand Years of Longing. Director George Miller’s film had all the ingredients to be one of my favorites of the summer. The auteur is the orchestrator behind the beloved Mad Max franchise. Additionally, Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton are two of our era’s most unique actors. The juxtaposition of these two introspective personalities could only produce sparks, right? Somehow the chasm between idea and execution was vast.
Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) recounts a narrative of her life which she will render as a fantasy. She is a scholar of mythology. While in Istanbul to deliver a talk, she discovers a glass bottle in an antique shop. A fellow professor (Erdil Yasaroglu) suggests another item. Yet she is fascinated by the object, so he purchases it for her. While cleaning the bottle in her quarters, she unleashes a djinn (Idris Elba) from the lamp. The genie has the power to grant three wishes, but Alithea is skeptical. Despite his offer, she clings tightly to the mantra “Be careful what you wish for.”
The foundation sets the stage for the djinn to recount four separate yarns. The result should’ve been a thrilling journey. Unfortunately, the picture is a lethargic story about telling meandering stories. The spirit regales us with tales of his life that include queens, princes, and the like. Themes of love and desire untie them all. Yet his reflections fail to maintain interest. It doesn’t help that they’re all conveyed in a hotel room which gives the production an oddly claustrophobic feel. The CGI-enhanced depictions have their moments. Some elements hint at the excitement of Universal’s costumed adventure epics made in the 1940s, like Arabian Nights and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. However, the reflective interactions between Swinton and Elba dazzle far more than the special effects.
George Miller has fashioned a somber fable about discourse, or more specifically — two people talking in a restrictive space while wearing plush white terry cloth bathrobes provided by the establishment. Mad Max Fury Road is one of the most exciting action movies of the last decade. Some would say ever. It’s been seven years since Miller’s previous outing, so expectations were admittedly elevated. This passive meditation couldn’t be more different. Even the director himself dubbed his work “anti-Mad Max.” Respect for attempting a project made for personal reasons and not commercial success. The supernatural romance had a $60 million budget and made $2.9 million in its opening weekend. The only magic I experienced in this mystical tribute to storytelling was as a soporiferous drug that worked its spell on me as I struggled to stay awake.
08-25-22
In 2009, Orphan was the umpteenth offshoot of The Bad Seed. That 1956 movie started the “evil child genre,” which would inspire classics like Village of the Damned, Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Omen. Orphan didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, so it certainly wasn’t something I thought would ever garner a sequel. I suspect it was largely forgotten save for a cult following until now. Despite its connection to the earlier installment, Orphan: First Kill is a standalone account. Except for the titular soul, none of the individuals from Orphan appear in this chronicle. It’s also a prequel, so I’d suggest that you’d best start with this chapter if you haven’t seen the first. In fact, do yourself a favor and skip the inferior 2009 film altogether. Even the critical and audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes support my opinion.
Orphan First Kill cleverly retrofits the foundation of the previous saga and surpasses the original. In this intro, Leena Klammer is a 33-year-old woman with a rare degenerative hormone disorder that causes dwarfism. The woman looks like a 9-year-old child. Leena is also a violent patient imprisoned in an Estonian mental asylum who has no conscience and lacks remorse. Leena escapes from the facility and tricks an unsuspecting family into thinking she is their long-lost daughter Esther Albright, who went missing four years prior. Mom Tricia (Julia Stiles), Dad Allen (Rossif Sutherland), and their teen son Gunnar (Matthew Finlan) welcome her home, although skepticism arises.
For slightly over half of this brisk 99-minute movie, there is a predictability to every development that hampered my enthusiasm. David Coggeshall’s screenplay is based on a story by Alex Mace and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Initially, I mockingly enjoyed anticipating the likely outcomes. “Esther is hiding in that room,” I thought when newly arrived art therapy instructor Anna (Gwendolyn Collins) is locked in a confined space to keep her safe from the murderous Leena. “Now she’s in the trunk!” when Anna later drives away. It goes on and on like this. Then something happens at the 54-minute mark (I hit pause to verify) that is so unforeseeable that I stared at the screen in shock. It was as if the screenplay slapped me in the face and declared, “Just kidding! This is the real story.” From that point on, I was invested.
The production mines an unsettling milieu. Cinematographer Karim Hussain (Possessor) admirably contributes to the eerie mood. The engineers creatively disguise 25-year-old actress Isabel Fuhrman to make her appear more believable as the child she’s pretending to be. Forced perspective and body doubles (Kennedy Irwin and Sadie Lee) assist in the ruse. Isabelle Fuhrman and Julia Stiles are talented actors. They elevate their characters with compelling performances. Sadly the climax ultimately falls victim to more hackneyed convention. Still, the middle section redeems this entertaining thriller.
08-23-22
I’m talking movies on talkSPORT radio. On Sunday, August 14, I selected two steaming choices: PREY, the latest Predator movie on Hulu and THIRTEEN LIVES, a tale of an epic rescue on Amazon Prime. My appearance begins 10 minutes into the 2:30 – 3:00 hour (20 minutes from the end).
Source: Live Radio, Breaking Sports News, Opinion – talkSPORT
On Sunday, August 7, I was talking entertainment on talkSPORT radio. There’s my new TV obsession is ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING a series starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, which airs on Hulu. In theaters BULLET TRAIN starring Brad Pitt is the #1 movie. My appearance begins one minute into the 2:30 – 3:00 hour.
Source: Live Radio, Breaking Sports News, Opinion – talkSPORT
Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) ) is a single father who takes his two young daughters, Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries ), to a wildlife preserve in South Africa. While there, they are confronted by a ferocious lion determined to kill everyone and everything in sight. I don’t want to dismiss Beast as Jaws but with a feline, but that is basically the setup.
Man vs. nature can be the the foundation for a very entertaining film. “When animals attack” comprises a whole genre of cinema. Beast is nowhere near as outstanding as The Birds, but it’s decidedly more refined than the 1999 killer crocodile flick Lake Placid. Apparently, the lion is out for revenge because poachers murdered the rest of his pride. That’s a stretch. An untamed animal would never behave this way. Nevertheless, I was captivated by the various confrontations. There is a bit more drama than just a cat run amok. For one thing, Idris plays a father whose wife has recently passed from illness, so there are some unresolved tensions with his daughters. Sharlto Copley (District 9, Maleficent) also appears a wildlife biologist who is an old friend of Nate’s.
Beast is a competent thriller, a simple story efficiently told. I like that the movie knows exactly what it is – an uncomplicated shocker designed to produce thrills. As such, it was a brilliant decision to edit it down to a mere 90 minutes. Anything longer would be unnecessary. The MVP of this picture are the talenetd team in the sound department. We are frequently subjected to jump scares where the sound is so loud I literally jumped in my seat. Usually, I find those kinds of surprises a cheap way to elicit frights, but they are effective nonetheless. I’d be lyin’ if I said this was innovative, but it’s still a roaring good time.
08-18-22
In 2005 Jaime Foxx won the Oscar for Best Actor. He hasn’t been nominated since, and Day Shift certainly isn’t going to change that. However, it’s currently the #1 streaming title on Netflix, so that’s something.
Bud Jablonski (Jamie Foxx) is a vampire hunter posing as a pool cleaner who gets an unlikely partner in union rep Seth (Dave Franco). Jaime Foxx portrays a confident, streetwise action hero, and Dave Franco is the intelligent but awkward official with whom he is saddled. We’ve seen the odd couple pairing a million times before. I love those offbeat bonds of the 1980s like 48 hours, Lethal Weapon, and Midnight Run. Despite their differences, we all know that the two will become good friends. It’s the series of comical escapades that entertains. These lay the groundwork for their ultimate meeting of the minds.
Action comedies about mismatched people united in a common cause usually rely on the camaraderie that makes the partnership fun. Apparently, screenwriters Tyler Tice and Shay Hatten skipped the days when those lessons were taught in film writing school. The slapdash script is so emotionally vacant it makes Central Intelligence look like In the Heat of the Night. Jaime Foxx and Dave Franco do their talented best, but the screenplay doesn’t allow them to have chemistry together. The interaction between these two actors is not pleasant. It doesn’t help that Dave Franco is required to vomit often and pee his pants to show his ineptitude in combat. Oh, and let’s be clear, physical confrontations — not intellectual repartee — are the raison d’être of the picture.
The chronicle relies heavily on explosions, blood, knives, machine guns, stabbings, explosions, and neck slicing decapitations featuring disembodied heads. Oops! Did I mention the explosions twice? Well, it bears repeating. Carnage is why this flick exists. Stuntman-turned-director J.J. Perry is making his directorial debut. The arbitrary developments are a disjointed mess. If you enjoy seeing an individual get their arms ripped off and then pummeled with their own limbs, you will treasure at least one scene in the chaos. The wonky special effects in the fight scenes are kind of hilarious, though. Jaime Foxx is kicked and thrown across the room like a rag doll in the climax.
The cast includes a random ensemble of other personalities that distract from the central duo. Perhaps the most engaging is the main villain Audrey San Fernando (Karla Souza), a pretty vampire/real estate agent who works for a high-end firm. Her flashy attitude would be right at home on the reality TV series Selling Sunset. Snoop Dogg pops up as an intimidating but supportive cowboy named Big John Elliott. His appearance is sure to be a particular delight for viewers who were teens in 1993. I must admit I was amused by his lackadaisical presence. Although Bud may have a violent job, the narrative also unconvincingly paints him as a family man. He’s got a beloved daughter (Zion Broadnax) and an estranged wife (Meagan Good). Yet the relationships don’t resonate with even a modicum of genuine emotion. These are accomplished actors instructed to pose as nonentities in a soulless product for streaming consumption. By the end, someone informs us that “vampires don’t pee or poop,” which inspires Bud’s 8-year-old daughter to crudely blurt out, “Does that mean they’re full of sh–?” That kind of language is not to be encouraged from a youngster, but I still answered politely with, “No, but your movie is.”
08-16-22
On June 23, 2018, a junior association soccer team went missing after setting out to explore the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in northern Thailand. The twelve boys aged between 11 and 16 and their 25-year-old assistant coach were on a sightseeing trip after a practice session. Shortly after entering, heavy rains overflowed the tunnel system, blocking their way out, and trapping them deep within. The subsequent attempt to rescue them became a massive operation that garnered worldwide public interest. Simply determining whether the children were even alive took days. British divers John Volanthen and Richard Stanton ultimately located the group on an elevated rock about 2.5 miles from the cavity opening. Wonderful news! Nevertheless, the ability to extract them from the flooded twisty cavern would be difficult. Even with scuba gear and guidance, the kids would likely panic during the long treacherous swim out.
There are so many perspectives from which to tell this epic tale. I was fascinated with the fortitude of the trapped victims. Somehow they survived over two weeks in a pitch-black cavern without food. Once discovered, there is mention of meditation. Their perseverance through prayer and hope is undoubtedly a fascinating saga. The details of their struggle are mentioned in passing. However, we don’t see the boys for a large portion of the picture. Theirs is not the endeavor presented here.
This is a tale about the British divers played by Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell and Australian medical specialist Richard Harris portrayed by Joel Edgerton. They saved the day when everyone else — even the Navy SEALs — could not. A casual glance at the famous names in the cast does not suggest an account focused on the vulnerable victims. The fact that Ron Howard (Backdraft, Apollo 13) is directing should have clued me in that the effort to extricate them takes center stage. Ok, that’s an exciting perspective too. Those men were genuine heroes. Their commitment is an awe-inspiring consolidation of human ingenuity that saved lives.
Yet the chronicle is not produced in a way that maximizes the drama. It always felt like we were observing these events from a distance. The individuals here are two-dimensional characters that lack personality. I derive more emotion from footage on the 11’oclock news. The excitement improves in the second half when the claustrophobic, muddy-water environment conveys just how difficult it was to save these lives from the underground chamber. Yet Ron Howard and editor James D. Wilcox frequently cut to less interesting activities on land that kill the momentum. Furthermore, the developments plod for nearly 2 1/2 hours. I’m not saying it isn’t an uplifting experience. It’s currently the most watched title on Amazon Prime, after all. (Box office flop The 355 was the previous #1). Although, I enjoyed it more divided up over two nights.
This life-affirming tale is inherently captivating. It would be near impossible not to make a thrilling picture out of this piece of recent history. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things is universally compelling. These ripped from the headlines stories are even more effective because they’re true. Ron Howard and screenwriter William Nicholson (working from a story by Don MacPherson) offer a movie that inspired me to read up on the actual account and watch the award-winning (and more efficient) National Geographic documentary The Rescue (2021).
08-07-22
I’m on the radio talking about animated films! DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS was #1 at the box office for the weekend ending July 31st. THE SEA BEAST is a popular movie on Netflix. Hear me talk about both on talkSPORT radio. My appearance begins 6 minutes into the 2:30 – 3:00 hour (about 24 minutes from the end).
Source: Live Radio, Breaking Sports News, Opinion – talkSPORT
Welcome to Fast Film Reviews.
My name is Mark Hobin. I love film and I love to write so I thought, why not combine the two. This is the inspiration for my movie review blog in which I currently review every movie I see in a theater.
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