Netflix Friday - Volume 58

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

Action: Shaft (2019)
JJ Shaft (Jessie T. Usher), a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, enlists his family’s help to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s death.
 

Drama: Blue Miracle (2021)
To save their cash-strapped orphanage, a guardian and his kids partner with a washed-up boat captain (Dennis Quaid) for a chance to win a lucrative fishing competition.
 

Comedy: Tower Heist (2011)
When a group of hard-working guys find out they’ve fallen victim to their wealthy employer’s Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.
 

Animation: The SpongBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
SpongeBob SquarePants takes leave from the town of Bikini Bottom in order to track down King Neptune’s stolen crown.
 

Romance: 13 Going On 30 (2004)
A girl makes a wish on her thirteenth birthday, and wakes up the next day as a thirty-year old woman (Jennifer Garner).
 

Horror: Pet Sematary (2019)
Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) and his wife, Rachel (Amy Seimetz), relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. The couple soon discover a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home.
 

Science Fiction: The Discovery (2017)
Two years after the afterlife is scientifically proven, a man (Robert Redford) attempts to help a young woman (Rooney Mara) break away from her dark past.
 

Crime: Joker (2019)
In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.
 

Thriller: The Rainmaker (1997)
An underdog lawyer (Matt Damon) takes on a fraudulent insurance company.
 

Documentary: One of Us (2017)
Penetrating the insular world of New York’s Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.
 

Family: Hugo (2011)
In 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.

Academy Awards 2020 - Predictions

My predictions of the 2020 Academy Awards.

Best motion picture of the year: “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood”
Best performance by and actor in a leading role: Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”
Best performance by an actress in a leading role: Renée Zellweger, “Judy”
Best performance by and actor in a supporting role: Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood”
Best performance by and actress in a supporting role: Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”
Best achievement in directing: Sam Mendes, “1917”
Best original screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood”
Best adapted screenplay: Greta Gerwig, “Little Women”
Best cinematography: Roger Deakins, “1917”
Best achievement in film editing: Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker, “Ford V Ferrari”
Best achievement in production design: Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh, “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood”

Best achievement in costume design: Jacqueline Durran, “Little Women”
Best achievement in makeup and hairstyling: Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker, “Bombshell”
Best achievement in music written for motion pictures (original score): Hildur Duđnadóttir, “Joker”
Best achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song): Elton John and Bernie Taupin, (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again, “Rocketman”
Best achievement in sound mixing: Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson, “1917”
Best achievement in sound editing: Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate, “1917”

Best achievement in visual effects: Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Daniel Sudick, “Avengers: Endgame”
Best documentary feature: “American Factory”
Best documentary short subject: “Learning to Skateboard”
Best animated feature film: “Toy story”
Best animated short film: “Hair Love”
Best live action short film: “Brotherhood”
Best international feature film: “Parasite”

Movie Reviews - Joker

Director: Todd Phillips
Genre: Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Shea Whigham, Bill Camp

Description: In Gotham City, mentally-troubled comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: “The Joker”.

Review: One of the movies I was most looking forward to this year. A film that should save DC, when it’s Marvel and Disney that rule Hollywood. Looking forward on how they are going to treat this origin story of one of the most iconic DC villains. But also how Joaquin Phoenix, just as eccentric as he his talented, was going to portray the Joker.
You can say many things about this crazy clown, but not that he is a superhero. To mark “Joker” as a superhero film, is wrong. Even though the film is set within the superhero universe. Gotham may look like you average American city, it does have its own laws an rules. With some social criticism here and there, “Joker” is mostly a mix of action and sharp dialogue in a totally crazy environment.
And crazy it is indeed. From the first moment, Arthur’s hysterical laughter and awkward dancing grabs you by the throat. Where Heath Ledger surprised us all with his portrayal of the Joker in 2008, he showed us a character in a further state. Because the only thing we were missing there, was his backstory. It was the mystery that made Ledger’s Joker so great. Joaquin Phoenix gets the task to show us how he has become the Joker and why he is the way he is. He is a loner, lives with his ill mother in a crappy apartment and transforms into one of the most legendary movie characters of the past decade. The question is why, and we get an answer.
The hard thing for an origin story to do is, to create an interesting and grabbing story, even though you know how it ends. We all know, that in the end he takes on his persona of The Joker to the fullest, but the story of how he got there has to be strong to keep an audience interested the entire runtime. And what we get is a series of unpredictable incidents, which make the outcome even more crazy.
Everything that isn’t Joaquin Phoenix, is a sideshow. The beautiful shots, nods to previous films, the subtle use of music or the strong performances by Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz. “Joker” is in many ways a masterpiece, but it doesn’t count when Phoenix isn’t in the center of all this. He is the reason why many people were so excited for this film. Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and Jared Leto all played this role before him and they all had a different take. So whoever wants to follow this line of performers, is a brave man. Phoenix never imitates or copies anyone, he gives the character his own spin with its own quirks and manners. Every frame with Phoenix in it, he makes it his own. You have to watch him, you only see him. He probably is closest to Ledger’s version of the Joker, but in no means we need to compare the two. If Phoenix doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for this, I have no faith in humanity anymore.
“Joker” is definitely one of the best movies of 2019 and it will most certainly end up on my list of best films at the end of the year.

Rating: 5/ 5

Movies to Look Forward to - October 2019

It's officially fall time and the perfect moment to go to the theaters. And since October is the month of Halloween, there are quite some scary movies on it. Here are some films to look forward to in October.

October 3rd – Joker
Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Bryan Tyree Herny, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, Shea Whigham, Brett Cullen
Description: An original standalone origin story of the iconic villain no seen before on the big screen. It’s a gritty character study of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man disregarded by society and a broader cautionary tale.

October 9th – A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Director: Richard Phelan, Will becher
Starring: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Kate Harbour, Chris Morrell
Description: When an alien with amazing powers crash-lands near Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun the Sheep goes on a mission to shepherd the intergalactic visitor home before a sinister organization can capture her.

October 10th – Gemini Man
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Will Smith, Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong
Description: An over-the-hill hitman (Will Smith) faces off against a younger clone of himself.

October 10th – The Goldfinch
Director: John Crowley
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Ansel Elgort, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright
Description: A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy Upper East Side family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

October 23rd – Terminator – Dark Fate
Director: Tim Miller
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Edward Furlong
Description: Plot unknown.

October 31st – Ready or Not
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillet
Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Andie McDowell
Description: A bride’s wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

October 17th - Haunt
Director: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Starring: Katie Brittain, Will Brittain, Lauryn Alisa McClain, Andrew Caldwell, Shazi Raja, Schuyler Helford, Philip Johnson Richardson
Description: On Halloween, a group of friends encounter an "extreme" haunted house that promises to feed on their darkest fears. The night turns deadly as they come to the horrifying realization that some nightmares are real.

October 24th - Countdown
Director: Justin Deck
Starring: Anne Winters, Elizabeth Lail, Charlie McDermott
Description: When a nurse downloads an app that claims to predict the moment a person will die, it tells her she only has three days to live. With the clock ticking and a figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out.