Netflix Friday - Volume 97

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: Bumblebee (2018)
On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small California beach town. On the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.
 

Drama: Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
The story of the legendary British rock bank Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid.
 

Comedy: Instant Family (2018)
A couple (Rose Byrne, Mark Wahlberg) find themselves in over their heads when tey foster three children.
 

Animation: Shrek the Third (2007)
Reluctantly designated as the heir of the land Far, Far Away, Shrek (Mike Myers) hatches a plan to install the rebellious Artie (Justin Timberlake) as the new king while Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) tries to fend off a coup d’état by the jilted Prince Charming (Rupert Everett).
 

Romance: Meskina (2021)
A Moroccan-Dutch single thirty-something (Maryam Hassouni) is seen as a ‘Meskina’ a (pity-case) by her family, who desperately want to couple her.
 

Horror: The First Purge (2018)
America’s third political party, the New Founding Fathers of America, comes to power and conducts an experiment: no laws for 12 hours on Staten Island. No one has to stay on the island, but $5,000 is given to anyone who does.
 

Science Fiction: The Adam Project (2022)
A time-traveling pilot (Ryan Reynolds) teams up with his younger self (Walker Scobell) and his late father (Mark Ruffalo) to come to terms with his past while saving the future.
 

Crime: Gone Girl (2014)
With his wife’s (Rosamund Pike) disappearance having become the focus of an inense media circus, a man (Ben Affleck) sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.
 

Thriller: A Cure for Wellness (2016)
An ambitious young executive (Dane DeHaan) is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious ‘wellness center’ at a remote location in the Swiss Alps, but soon suspects that the spa’s treatments are not what they seem.
 

Documentary: Winter On Fire (2015)
A documentary on the unrest in Ukraine during 2013 and 2014, as student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
 

Family: Rescued by Ruby (2022)
Chasing his dream to join an elite K-9 unit, a state trooper (Dan Gustin) partners with a fellow underdog: clever but naughty shelter pup Ruby.

Netflix Friday - Volume 49

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: Raw Deal (1986)
A former FBI agent turned small-town sheriff (Arnold Schwarzenegger) agrees to help the FBI chief infiltrate the Chicago mafia when the FBI chief’s son is killed by them.
 

Drama: The Natural (1984)
A middle-aged unknown (Robert Redford) comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary baseball player with almost supernatural talent.
 

Comedy: Booksmart (2019)
On the even of their high school graduation, two academic superstars (Kaitlyn Dever, Benie Feldstein) and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more. Determined not to fall short of their peers, the girls try to calm four years of fun into one night.
 

Animation: Turbo (2013)
A freak accident might just help an everyday garden snail achieve his biggest dream: winning the Indy 500.
 

Romance: The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A feature film adaptation of the self-help book, “The Secret”, which focuses on the power of positive thinking.
 

Horror: Quarantine (2008)
A television reporter (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC, after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.
 

Science Fiction: Bumblebee (2018)
On the run un the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small California beach town. On the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.
 

Crime: In the Name of the Father (1993)
A man’s (Daniel Day-Lewis) coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father (Pete Postlethwaite) as well. An English lawyer (Emma Thompson) fights to free them.
 

Thriller: Clear and Present Danger (1994)
CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.
 

Documentary: This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist (2021)
March 18^, 1990, 13 works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Guards admitted two men posing as police officers responding to a disturbance call, and the thieves tied the guards up and looted the museum.
 

Family: Beethoven (1992)
A slobbering St. Bernard becomes the center of attention for a loving family, but must contend with a dog-napping veterinarian and his henchman.

Netflix Friday - Volume 15

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.

Action: Bumblebee (2018)
On the run in the year 1987, Bublee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small California beach town. On the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.

Drama: The Squid and the Whale (2005)
We follow two young boys (Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline) dealing with their parents divorce (Laura Linney, Jeff Daniels) in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Comedy: The Naked Gun (1988)
Incompetent polive Detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

Animation: When Marnie Was There (2014)
Due to 12-year-old Anna’s (Hailee Steinfeld) asthma, she’s sent to stay with relatives of her guardian in the Japanese countryside. She likes to be along, sketching. She befriends Marnie, but who is this mysterious girl?

Romance: Stardust (2007)
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man (Charlie Cox) makes a promise to his beloved (Claire Danes) that he’ll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.

Horror: Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people, with the culprit being the legendary apparition, The Headless Horseman.

Science Fiction: Interstellar (2014)
A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an attempt to ensure humanity’s survival.

Crime: American History X (1998)
A former neo-nazi skinhead (Edward Norton) tries to prevent his younger brother (Edward Furlong) from going the same wrong path that he did.

Thriller: Basic Instinct (1992)
A violent police detective (Michael Douglas) investigates a brutal murder that might involve a manipulative and seductive novelist (Sharon Stone).

Documentary: Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020)
Actor Zac Efron journeys around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien in search of healthy, sustainable ways to live.

Family: The Lego Movie (2014)
An ordinary LEGO construction worker (Chris Pratt), thought to be the prophesied as ‘special’, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the LEGO universe into eternal stasis.

10's Movie Review - Bumblebee

Director: Travis Knight
Genre: Action
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendenborg Jr., Pamela Adlon, John Ortiz, Angela Bassett, Peter Cullen, Justin Theroux

Description: On the run in the year of 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.

Review: It was 2007 when the first Transformers film came out in theaters. The film was a success, but for the real fans a disappointment. Many sequels followed, but somehow it looked spectacular but there was no depth or any layers. One of the stars from the franchise, Bumblee, gets his own film. And it’s a more authentic Transformers film. The best of them all actually.
We meet Bumblebee, probably one of the most recognizable Transformers aside from Optimus Prime. This story is a prequel, that is set before the first movie. It’s the year 1987 and the movie opens with a battle on Cybertron: Autobots versus the Decepticons. The massive CGI spectacle is limited, luckily. From this moment on, there is an actual story and it does have depth.
The Autobots lose and flee from Cubertron. Bumblebee gets one task from Optimus Prime: hide on planet Earth and wait for back-up. Here we meet Charlie. After her father’s death, she never found her way back and can’t move on. She loves working on cars, because that’s something she did with her dad. When Charlie finds an old yellow Beetle, she tries to hide in her garage. And then she meets Bumblebee.
The story is not spectacular, but there at least is one. It’s mostly focused on Charlie’s connection with Bumblebee. Hailee Steinfeld, who playd Charlie, really does a fantastic job. All the Transformers spectacle is taken back a notch and it gets more personal. It even makes you care about the Transformer.
It’s not a very surprising movie, but that’s not really what a Transformer movie needs. The power is in the little, more human moments of the film. Charlie is a strong leading character and her bond with Bumblebee will really touch you.
“Bumblebee” is the best film in the Transformer universe and I really enjoyed this film. It’s still popcorn entertainment, but with a little bit more depth to it.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movies to Look Forward to - December 2018

The end of the year is in sight and just one more motnh left for new movies to be released. Here are the movies to look forward to in the month of December.

December 6th – Kursk
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Starring: Colin Firth, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist, Matthias Schoenaarts, Max von Sydow
Description: The film follows the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster and the governmental negligence that followed. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.

December 6th – Mortal Engines
Director: Christian Rivers
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Stephen Lang, Robert Sheehan, Hera Hilmar
Description: A mysterious young woman named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) joins forces with Anna Fang, a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head, and Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an outcast from London, to lead a rebellion against a giant predator city on wheels.

December 12th – Ralph Breaks the Internet
Director: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jack Brayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, Ed O’Neill
Description: Six years after the events of "Wreck-It Ralph", Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.

December 13th – Aquaman
Director: James Wan
Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Willem Dafoe, Leigh Wannell, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Beach
Description: Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and be a hero to the world.

November 19th – Mary Poppins Returns
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Emiy Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Angela Lansbury, Emily Mortimer, Ben Wishaw, Meryl Streep
Description: Decades after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives.

November 20th – Bumblebee
Director: Travis Knight
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Justin Theroux
Description: On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.

November 20th – Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
Director: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsay, Rodney Rothman
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Hailee Steinfeld, Live Schreiber, Mahershala Ali, Jake Johnson, John Mulaney, Lily Tomlin, Shameik Moore, Bryan Tyree henry
Description: Spider-Man crosses parallel dimensions and teams up with the Spider-Men of those dimensions to stop a threat to all reality.