Netflix Friday - Volume 84

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

Action: 13 Hours (2016)
During an attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.
 

Drama: The Unforgivable (2021)
A woman (Sandra Bullock) is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
 

Comedy: Lady Bird (2017)
In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl (Saoirse Ronan) comes of age in Sacramento, California.
 

Animation: The Polar Express (2004)
On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.
 

Romance: The Notebook (2004)
A poor yet passionate young man (Ryan Gosling) falls in love with a rich young woman (Rachel McAdams), giving her a sense of freedom, but they are soon separated because of their social differences.
 

Horror: Crawl (2019)
A young woman (Kaya Scodelario), while attempting to save her father (Barry Pepper) during a category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.
 

Science Fiction: Elysium (2013)
In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man (Matt Damon) takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
 

Crime: Jackie Brown (1997)
A flight attendant (Pam Grier) with a criminal past gets nabbed by the FBI for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the drug dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.
 

Thriller: Shutter Island (2010)
In 1954, a U.S. Marshal (Leonardo DiCaprio) investigates the disappearance of s murderer who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.  
 

Documentary: Lead Me Home (2021)
“Lead Me Home” is a short film that follows several people living on the streets in West Coast cities.

Family: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
The Turtles get into another battle with their enemy the Shredder, who has acquired new allies: the mutant thugs Bebop and Rocksteady and the alien being Krang.

Netflix Friday - Volume 3

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

Action: Bad Boys (1995)
Two hip detectives (Will Smith, Martin Lawrence) protect a witness to a murder (Téa Leoni) while investigating a case of stolen heroin from the evidence storage room from their police precinct.

Drama: De Rouille et D’os (2012)
Put in charge of his young son, Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts) leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Alain’s bond with Stephanie (Marion Cotillard), a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.

Comedy: Pineapple Express (2008)
A process server (Seth Rogen) and his marijuana dealer (James Franco) wind up on the run from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after he witnesses his dealer’s boss murder a competitor while trying to serve papers on him.

Animation: Over the Hedge (2006)
A scheming raccoon (Bruce Willis) fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating… and learns a lesson about family himself.

Romance: Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
The son of a recently widowed man (Tom Hanks) calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a new partner.

Horror: Midsommar (2019)
A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown’s fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

Science Fiction: Elysium (2013)
In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man (Matt Damon) takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.

Crime: Collateral (2004)
A cab driver (Jamie Foxx) finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer (Tom Cruise) as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.

Thriller: Zodiac (2007)
In the late 1960s/ early 1970, a San Francisco cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.

Documentary: Oceans (2009)
An ecological documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.

Family: Jumanji (1995)
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped in it for decades, and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.

Movie Battle: District 9 Vs. Elysium

Today I’m comparing two movie by director Neill Blomkamp. He hasn’t directed many movies, but these are his two most well-known and successful ones: District 9 Vs. Elysium.

CAST

District 9: There is only one actor in this movie worth mentioning, Sharlto Copley. Untill then an unknown South African actor. Copley’s performance is solid and believable.

Elysium: Matt Damon is the star and as always he does a great job. Since the Bourne-trilogy he’s a respectable action hero as well as the solid actor he already was. Jodie Foster is a convincing bitch, but her accent is a bit weird. I don’t know what it is, but it sound like something she made up herself. But again, like in “District 9”, Sharlto Copley steals the show. What a badass he is in this movie.

STORY

District 9: It’s a very original story, also written by Neill Blomkamp. I think it’s one of the better realistically looking sci-fi movies of the decade.

Elysium: Again a pretty original plot. Off course there are other versions of this, the poor world versus the rich world, but they way it was executed was very well done.

EFFECTS

District 9: The prawns look very realistic, though the effects are very subtle. I think that’s what’s so great about “District 9”, it’s never over the top.
Elysium: Bigger material used here, a lot of special effects, but it still has that gritty look. Blomkamp used the ‘shaky cam’ which is always a nice thing in action movies. It feels more real, like you’re really there. Again, it never looks like too much.

WINNER

They are both great, but I choose “District 9”. I think it’s the more original one of the two and this is a movie I could watch more than once.

Movie Trailer Sunday (81)

Here are this weeks movie trailers.

Man of Steel
Description: A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe
Trailer: Trailer "Man of Steel"

Elysium
Description: In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission, one that pits him against Elysium's Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces, but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, William Fichtner
Trailer: Trailer "Elysium"
Comment: Highly anticipated, it looks really great.

Filth
Description: Scheming Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), a bigoted and corrupt policeman, is in line for a promotion and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Enlisted to solve a brutal murder and threatened by the aspirations of his colleagues, including Ray Lennox (Jamie Bell), Bruce sets about ensuring their ruin, right under the nose of unwitting Chief Inspector Toal. As he turns his colleagues against one another by stealing their wives and exposing their secrets, Bruce starts to lose himself in a web of deceit that he can no longer control. His past is slowly catching up with him, and a missing wife, a crippling drug habit and suspicious colleagues start to take their toll on his sanity. The question is: can he keep his grip on reality long enough to disentangle himself from the filth?
Director: Jon S. Baird
Starring: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan, Joanne Froggatt, Imogen Poots
Trailer: Trailer "Filth"
Comment: This is a role of James mcAvoy I haven't seen yet. He really is filthy!

The Way, Way Back
Description: 14-year-old Duncan's (Liam James) is on summer vacation with his mother, Pam (Toni Collette), her overbearing boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell), and his daughter, Steph (Zoe Levin). Having a rough time fitting in, the introverted Duncan finds an unexpected friend in gregarious Owen (Sam Rockwell), manager of the Water Wizz water park. Through his funny, clandestine friendship with Owen, Duncan slowly opens up to and begins to finally find his place in the world - all during a summer he will never forget.
Director: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Starring: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Amanda Peet, Rob Corddry, Liam James
Trailer: Trailer "The Way, Way Back"
Comment: I love coming of age stories.

Rush
Description: Englishman James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and the disciplined Austrian perfectionist Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl), whose clashes on the Grand Prix racetrack epitomized the contrast between these two extraordinary characters, a distinction reflected in their private lives.
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara, Stephen Mangan, Christian McKay, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Jamie de Courcey, Pierfrancesco Favino, Natalie Dormer
Trailer: Trailer "Rush"
Comment: I'm not a formula 1 fan, but this movie has Chris Hemsworth in it!