TV Show Review - The White Lotus (Season 3)

Season: 3
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2025
Starring: Walton Goggins, Amy Lou Wood, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sam Nivola, Sarah Catherine Hook, Natasha Rothwell, Sam Rockwell

Description: As a new round of guests arrives at The White Lotus Thailand.
 
Review: In the third season of the satirical drama series “The White Lotus”, the once again messed-up yet fascinating hotel guests arrive at the beautiful resort, this time in Thailand.

The series starts off with the discovery of something that looks like a floating body in the water and the sound of gun shots. Then we go back in time, to a week before.

Like each season, showrunner Mike White chooses a new cast of characters and also a new theme. Season 1 was mostly about money, season 2 revolved around sex and the newest season focuses on religions and spirituality.

And with the characters, again, they are all over the place. We meet the cheerful and upbeat British Chelsea and her grumpy, older American boyfriend Rick. Then there is the Ratliff family, clearly affluent as they are dysfunctional. Father Timothy is a businessman who finds out he is in deep trouble at home. His wife Victoria is living her best life. And their three adult children argue as siblings do. Saxon is  an oversexed jerk who works for his father. Daughter Piper is eager to embrace her spirituality. And Lochlan, their youngest brother, feels like he doesn’t belong with his narcissistic, domineering relatives. Finally we meet the three girlfriends, in their forties, who know each other from school. Jaclyn is a famous actress and decided to take her friends Laurie and Kate with her on a holiday. But their friendship is filled with envy, gossip and jealousy.

The only character that we have already met before is Belinda, who was also in season 1 working at the White Lotus in Hawaii. She has arrived in Thailand to recover from burnout and broaden her knowledge. There is one other characters that we know from previous season, but I won’t spoil it for you.

I was invested in all the storylines and really felt like this season brought a lot of memorable characters. Especially Parker Posey as Victoria, with her Southern accent. Patrick Schwarzenegger as her oldest son Saxon, who probably goes through the biggest change of all the characters. And Chelsea, who won over all of our hearts probably, because of Amy Lou Wood’s great performance. Also worth mentioning is Carrie Coon, who broke us all with a perfect monologue in the final episode. Please give her an Emmy for that! And Jason Isaac, as Timothy, the father of the Ratliff family. He went though such an emotional rollercoaster, that had us all in a chokehold the entire season.

I really enjoyed the first two seasons, but I think season 3 is my favorite. That final episode was insane and was worth the wait.

00s Movie Review - Friends with Money

Director: Nicole Holofcener
Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 84 minutes
Year: 2006
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack, Simon McBurney, Jason Isaacs, Timm Sharp, Greg Germann, Scott Caan, Bob Stephenson, Marin Hinkle, Romy Rosemont, Ty Burell

Description: After she quits her lucrative job, Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) finds herself unsure about her future and het relationship with her successful and wealthy friends.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 8: A MOVIE SHORTER THEN 90 MINUTES

Review: The four friends Olivia, Jane, Christine and Franny live on the west coast of America. As they approach a certain age, things begin to happen that upset the balance of their lives. Unlike single Olive, married Jane, Christine and Franny lead affluent lives in expensive homes. Olivia has quit her job as a teacher and now works as a housekeeper. She seeks help, both financial and emotional, from her friends and meanwhile always remains in search of a purpose in her life.
Christine and her husband a both screenwriters and in the middle of a major renovation of their house. They are building a storey on top of their house, so that they can better enjoy their view. This to the dismay of their neighbors. Jane is a successful fashion designer, but nowadays not her fashionable herself. Not washing her hair, being grumpy and mad at everyone and everything. And Franny doesn’t have to work a day in her life because she has so much money, and feels like motherhood is all she needs. Meanwhile, the girls all think that Jane’s husband is gay and Franny sets Olivia up with her personal trainer, who turns out to be a dick.
I always enjoy a film like this, with multiple storylines. And although it has a cast full of A-listers, the story itself is a bit dull. Yes, it’s everyday problems in everyday lives, but I’m missing the conflict. You know already where everything is leading, so the element of surprise is completely gone.
I do like all the actors in this film, and that alone is still reason enough to watch “Friends with Money”.

Rating: 3/ 5

10s Movie Review - The Infiltrator

Director: Brad Furman
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 127 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, Benjamin Bratt, Jason Isaacs, Amy Ryan, Olympia Dukakis

Description: A U.S. Customs official (Bryan Cranston) uncovers a money laundering scheme involving Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Review: In the late autumn 0f 1993, Pablo Escobar, the biggest drug lord of all time, was shot dead when he was arrested. At the height of his power, the Escobar cartel was running sixty million dollars a day. To control El Patron’s trade, a meshed network of intimidation, bribery, corruption and infiltrators was set up. The efforts of U.S. customs detective Bob Mazur eventually led to the taking down the network. Mazur, who wrote down his experiences as an infiltrator in a bestseller, focuses on the money laundering system Escobar was using to cover up his practices. The attack seemed to be the best defense in this case. Together with his partner Emir Abreu, Mazur wanders the cemeteries of Florida in search of suitable alter egos for their undercover operation. T eventually became the late Italian Roberto Musella who formed the cover-up for Mazur.  
In Brad Furman’s film adaptation of Mazur’s book, Escobar walks by in a hotel lobby at the very end. In this crime-thriller based on true facts, he’s mainly interested in uncovering the network that facilitated the services of Escobar and other drug lords. Escobar is the boss who stays out of the picture. Mazur is a family man whose job is difficult to reconcile with his home situation. When Mazur is about to plunge into the life of the fictional aviation magnate Bob Musella, his wife sighs that this really should be the last job. In reality, Mazur continued his secret operations for a few more years. His alter ego Musella is a pathetic Italian who does jobs for the mafia and thus easily wins the trust of the Colombians. However, Mazur is constantly on his guard and the practices with which he hopes to unmask the cartel are inventive but at times also messy. Tactics is not only to win the trust of the drug lords, but also to admit them to his carefully constructed private life. Quick thinking and flexibility are highly necessary. As soon as Mazur, during an intimate treat from a stripper, reveals that he engaged, and inexperienced fellow agent has to show us as his fiancée.
Furman gives us an unparalleled insight into an environment that revolves around false trust, good suits, overpriced jewelry, shady deals and striking people with hidden agendas. The environment of the mid-eighties forms a strange mixture of nostalgia and brutal crime. Furman succeeds in portraying this quite boldly, but it is precisely the seriousness of the crimes with which the cartel is involved that is not really apparent. Mazur plays a slick guy who dos play a role, but also likes it all. He jeeps a constant eye on the purpose of his mission, but we get disappointingly little so see, for example, how dangerous work affects his private life. The policeman knows how to separate the two worlds well and without wanting to violate reality now: it would have been better for dramatic effect if the realities had come together and created an impossible conflict.
The filmmaker also loses himself in a messy scenario, that seems like a sequence of strong stories and doesn’t always excel in subtlety. Mazur experiences few setbacks in his mission and if there are any, they are very easily put aside. Yet there are moments when Furman excels in his acting directing. Precisely because there are so many opposing interests and everyone has to constantly look over his shoulder, fascinating dilemmas arise that are dealt with intelligently and in an exciting way by leading actor Bryan Cranston. He is assisted by experienced actors like John Leguizamo, Benjamin Bratt and Diane Kruger. “The Infiltrator” is an entertaining and artisanal ‘true crime’.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

10s Movie Review - Green Zone

Director: Paul Greengrass

Genre: Action

Runtime: 114 minutes

Year: 2010

Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan

Description: Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer (Matt Damon) to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.

Review: It is 2003, the American have now invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein is said to have weapons of mass destruction at his disposal. On of the teams that had to look for these weapons in Iraq is led by Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller. The government has obtained the locations of the weapons from a source secret to the outside world, which calls itself ‘Magellan’, However, when Miller’s team seems to miss the mark for several times, Miller begins to doubt the information. CIA agent Martin Brown shares Miller’s concerns, but high-raking government official Clark Pounstone stick with his informant. Miller decides to cooperate with Brown to get to the truth. Meanwhile, reporter Lawrie Dayne tries to find out Magellan’s identity.

The alleged presence of weapons of mass destruction; it was one of the main reasons why America invaded Iraq in 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime. “Green Zone”, based on the (non-fiction) book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City” by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, focuses on the search for these weapons. However, it is certainly not only about the search itself, but also about the conspiracy around it. Because in (the fictitious) “Green Zone” it soon turns out that things are dirty: the government bases the search on information from an invisible informant but nothing is found in any of the designated places. One of the people responsible for searching these locations is Chief Roy Miller, played by Matt Damon. When they yet again find nothing at the location they are searching, Miller starts distrusting the source and it’s up to him to get to the bottom of it all.

“Green Zone” is directed by Paul Greengrass, who also directed Matt Damon in “The Bourne Supremacy” and The Bourne Ultimatum”. Both strong films. “Green Zone” doesn’t reach that same level, but it’s still a skillfully made political action thriller. The film’s story is fictional, but contains elements that are based on the truth. The film is very realistic.

Rating: 3/ 5

10s Movie Review - Fury

Director: David Ayer
Genre: Action/ Drama
Runtime: 134 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Benthal, Jim Parrack, Jason Isaacs, Scott Eastwood

Description: A grizzled tank commander (Brad Pitt) makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.

Review: We board a tank with five Americans who are now on German territory. They are trying to conquer the last piece of Germany. The American army isn’t as strong as the Germans, so they have to be inventive to beat their opponent.
“Fury” is a brutal and heroic film about WWII. They show the raw side of a war, the chaos, the many deaths, Germans fearing their lives and Germans being shot for ‘fun’. It’s all visualized well and it’s intense. It shows that the soldiers were done with the war and felt frustrated.
A poignant exampled is when they make a German soldier beg for his life, but shoot him anyway. Terrible, but reality.
The cast is strong, all five of the soldiers in the tank that we follow during this journey are cast very well. But Brad Pitt carries this film.
For fans of war movies, this is a recommendation.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

00s Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Adventure/ Fantasy/ Family
Runtime: 154 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw, Toby Jones, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Julie Walters, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Branagh, Matthew Lewis, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, John Cleese, Warwick Davis, Mark Williams, Chris Rankin

Description: Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) ignores warnings not to return to Hogwarts, only to find the school plagued by a series of mysterious attacks and a strange voice haunting him.

Review: “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is again a guarantee for a fun family night. And I love nothing more than to step into a magical place like Hogwarts.
This time we learn about a secret chamber in Hogwarts, build by one of the founders of the school: the rather unsympathetic Zalazar Slytherin. Slytherin didn’t like that the kids of ‘normal’ people could join the school. The secret chamber has a monster in it, that is out to kill children, or at least petrify them. The secret chamber can only be opened by a direct heir of Slytherin. When the first student of Hogwarts is found petrified, it’s clear that the evil heir has returned.
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” goes into a variety of situations but never loses the main storyline. The character get enough time and space. The young cast is again strong, led by Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
Richard Harris convinces again as Dumbledore. This was the last Harry Potter film for him after his death in 2002. Alan Rickman is perfect in his role as Snape and Maggie Smith is fantastic too as McGonagall. Kenneth Branagh is one to mention. He plays the self-loving douche Gilderoy Lockheart, who isn’t as heroic as you might think.
The setting are again beautiful. “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is again a great Harry Potter film, fun for fans of the books as well as non-book lovers.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Reviews - The Death fo Stalin

Director: Armando Iannucci
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Jeffrey Tambor, Andrea Riseborogh, Olga Kurylenko, Paddy Considine, Michael Palin, Tom Brooke

Description: Follows the Soviet dictator's last days and depicts the chaos of the regime after his death.

Review: It’s a rather bizarre story, that probably a lot of people don’t even know, but it’s worth it: the death of Sovjet dictator Stalin. Under his command, hundred thousand political opponents were executed or send to the Goelag. It seems that six to nine million people lost their lives under the command of Stalin. No wonder that, when Stalin was found unconscious in his office, help didn’t come running. With this starting point, director Armando Iannucci brings us the somewhay genius “The Death of Stalin”. A tragic comedy.
After Stalin was founf, it took another three days before he was actually dead. The stories of how he was pronounced dead are legendary. But the fight for power after the dictator’s death is also very interesting. These two subjects center this story. Iannucci based his screenplay on a graphic novel by Fabien Nury. And the way this film is styled is pretty remarkable and interesting. All the dialogue is in English and all the actors speak in their own accents, British, American.
The film is also filled with beautiful observations and detail. And in a dark way, this makes the film funnier. Especially the fight for power, after Stalin’s death, were there is a lot of betrayal and stabbing each other in the back. “The Death of Stalin” is sometimes painfully funny. Because you realize that most of it actually happened. The absurd fight for power and they way some situations go.
It’s not a film everyone will see the humor of, but I think for people who enjoy learning about history, it’s a film to watch.

Rating: 4 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 80: A Cure For Welness

Director: Gore Verbinski
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 146 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Celia Imrie

Description: 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.

Review: “A Cure For Wellness” is one of my most anticipated movies for 2017 (Dutch release) and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a visually interesting mystery thriller.
In “A Cure For Wellness”, the ambitious stockbroker Lockhart travels to a spa in Switzerland, to retrieve the CEO of the company he works for. The task to bring Pembroke back isn’t that easy though. Not only does the clinic seem mysterious and suspicious, the treatment by doctor Volmer sounds strange too. When Lockhart gets into an accident, he ends up in the clinic himself and he starts to discover the mystery behind the clinic.
The movie is visually stunning. Lots of great camera work and beautiful images. The story is interesting and captivating. But also scary and disturbing at times.
The film got mixed reviews, but I loved “A Cure For Wellness”. It’s a bit odd, makes bold choices and is risky. It’s definitely not for everyone. Especially not for the weak stomach. But I love how this film dares to be different and takes risks. It works. The movie is original and keeps you in the dark for a long time. This can frustrate you, but I liked that. It isn’t until almost at the end, that you see what is really going on in that clinic.
I seriously don’t understand why people hate this film.

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 42: Event Horizon

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Genre: Thriller/ Science Fiction/ Horror

Runtime: 96 minutes

Year: 1997

Starring: Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Richard T. Jones, Jake Noseworthy, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee, Peter Marinker, Holley Chant, Barclay Wright, Noah Huntley Robert Jezek

Description: A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board.

Review: “Event Horizon” is a movie that might surprise the naive viewer. Because the story isn’t complicated and looks like a space movie without any inspiration, that we already have a dozen of. A research team is send into space to find a spaceship that has disappeared. They succeed, but soon they discover an evil force.

“Event Horizon” wasn’t received well by critics. They said it was a cheap mix of “Alien” and “Hellraiser”. And off course there are similarities. The empty, sinister hallways of the spaceship and the constant threat. And also the bloody images. But still it’s not a just a copy of those films.

Fact that director Andersons made a good movie with “Event Horizon” is the dark way of telling the story from beginning till end. It grabs you and compels you. The build-up of the tension is very strong. It takes some time for it to become exciting. The climax is pretty gory and not for the weak stomach.

Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill are the big names in the movie. Both gentlemen manage to give away a solid performance. The other actors don’t really impress, but are good enough to make the movie believable.

“Event Horizon” is a lurid and sometimes eerie movie, that surprises. Surely a movie for every science fiction fan.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 5: Green Zone

Director: Paul Greengrass

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 114 minutes

Year: 2010

Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Michael O’Neill, Khalid Abdalla, Antoni Corone, Yigal Naor, Sean Huze, Said Faraj, Martin McDougall, Lewis Alsamari

Description: Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes U.S. Army officer Miller (Matt Damon) to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.

Review: We follow Chief Warrant Officer Miller, an American officer who leads a team whose task is to track down weapon of mass destruction. The information the team has seems more and more unreliable.

Miller is a loyal soldier that was send into war for the wrong reasons. Based on his ideals he starts an investigations when he is asked to just do his job. Matt Damon manages to convince the viewers, even though he doesn’t have a lot to work with. To tell the story, the plot introduces a series of very well cast roles, that don’t get enough screen time. Journalist Lawrie Dayne is a sharp investigator, played by Amy Ryan. The same goes for Brendan Gleeson, who plays CIA agent Martin Brown. Oscar Isaacs, as marine Briggs, is seriously underused.

The source material of “Green Zone” has a political note, but director Greengrass made it into a limited drama with a talented cast and lots of action, with the potential to be a political intrigue story.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 137: Abduction

Director: John Singleton

Genre: Drama/ Action

Runtime: 100 minutes

Year: 2011

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Maria Bello, Jason Isaacs

Description: A thriller centered on a young man who sets out to uncover the truth about his life after finding his baby photo on a missing persons website.

Review: Taylor Lautner is known for his role as Jacob in the “Twilight” series. His fans get it all with “Abduction”, where we see Lautner shirtless, driving a motorcycle and joyrides on front of a car. Lautner’s character Nathan is a bit of a bad boy, but he also gets nervous whenever he’s around the pretty Karen.

While working on a project for school, Nathan finds a picture of a missing boy who looks like him. When he eventually finds evidence of that boy actually being him, him confronts his parents with it. From that moment on his life is flipped upside down, when he and Karen have to run from the CIA.

“Abduction” is directed by John Singleton, the man who also gave us “Boyz ‘n the Hood”. This movie never reaches that same standard, but the audience he’s targeting might like it. Youngsters who don’t really know that there are hundreds of movies in the genre that are way better than this. The plot is somewhat okay and not always predictable, but the dialogues are just awful.

The acting is just average and sometimes just really bad. Sigourney Weaver, Alfred Molina, Jason Isaacs and Maria Bello do a solid job, but their roles are minor. Taylor Lautner has to carry this film and he is just too inexperienced for that. And Lily Collins, as Karen, is just terrible.

For fans of Taylor Lautner “Abduction” is a treat, but for the real movie fans it’s another bad action movie. The plot could have given us more and it simply isn’t exciting enough.

Rating: 1,5/ 5