Netflix Friday - Volume 39

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

Action: The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)
The world’s top bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) gets a new client (Samuel L. Jackson), a hitman who must testify at the International Criminal Court. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time.
 

Drama: Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
True story of Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt), an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Laa at the time of China’s takeover of Tibet.
 

Comedy: Dumb and Dumber (1994)
After a woman leaves a briefcase at the airport terminal, a dumb limo driver (Jim Carrey) and his dumber friend (Jeff Daniels) set out on a hilarious cross-country road trip to Aspen to return it.
 

Animation: Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)
The time-travelling adventures of an advanced canine (Ty Burrell) and his adopted son, as they endeaver to fix a time rift they created.
 

Romance: Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
A recently windowed man’s (Tom Hanks) son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.
 

Horror: Midsommar (2019)
A couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown’s fabled Swedish 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: The Great Wall (2016)
In ancient China, a group of European mercenaries encounters a secret army that maintains and defends the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures.
 

Crime: Spy Game (2001)
Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) recalls his training of Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.
 

Thriller: Split (2016)
Three girls are kidnapped by a man (James McAvoy) with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24^th.
 

Documentary: Born to Be Free (2016)
Revelatory investigative film made by three intrepid, free-diving journalists Gaya, Tanya and Julia, about the global trade in wild sea mammals.
 

Family: Pluk van de Petteflet (2014)
On a quest to find a new home young Pluk in his little red crane wagon ends up in the Petteflet. He moves in to a little deserted tower room and quickly befriends some of the inhabitants and animals from the Torteltuin, the beautiful garden of the place. When he finds out the Torteltuin is about to be destroyed, Pluk and his friends are willing to try everything to stop it.

 

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.

10s Movie Review - Midsommar

Director: Ari Aster
Genre: Drama/ Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 147 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Henrik Norlén, Gunnel Fred, Isabelle Grill, Agnes Westerlund Rase, Julia Ragnarsson, Mats Blomgren, Lars Väringer

Description: 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.

Review: With “Hereditary” director Ari Aster had a dream debut. The horror genre is a tough genre to rise in, since it lacks originality, but Aster manager to stand out. It also resulted in a fantastic leading performance by Toni Collette, that was totally ignored by the Academy, but that happens often with movies like this. Little more than a year later, Aster brings us “Midsommar” and it shows that his debut wasn’t just a lucky shot. Again a horror film that shows how great he is with visuals. And the first original part is that it’s a horror film in broad daylight. I can’t really explain fully what I just watched, but I am going to try. One thing is sure, it’s a good film that will haunt you for a while.
“Hereditary” was in basis a family drama that eventually turned in to a horror film. “Midsommar” presents itself as a relationship drama that undergoes a similar transformation. Dani and Christian are a young couple and their relationship is a bit lost. Christian has tried to end the relationship, but after Dani loses her parents and sister in a strange suicide pact, Christian decides to stick with her for a while longer. Since it would send Dani into a deeper depression. Christian thinks he can escape from all the misery when he plans a trip to Sweden with his friends. Eventually he asks Dani with him on the trip.
The Americans don’t take the typical eurotrip. One of Christian’s friends is Pelle, a Swedish exchange student, and they travel to his hometown. It’s not your standard village, but a commune that fully surrenders itself to pagan rituals during a 9-day mid-summer festival. It gives you an insight in the different culture, but you also know that this idyllic place has a dark side. Aster takes his time, it’s a so-called ‘slow burn’. There are hints along the way. Fortunately, during that descent into madness (which takes increasingly grotesque forms) the relationship drama is never lost. Even in the somewhat absurd finale, this remains the backbone of the film.
Despite this, “Midsommar is unmistakably a horror film, but in many ways Aster manages to avoid the conventions of the genre. Like the black friend in the company is not the comic relief this time, but and anthropology student with serious interest in the Swedish traditions. And, as I mentioned before, the fact that most of the film is set in broad daylight instead of during night time. And doing this and still manage to make this film creepy as it is and very disturbing, is a talent on its own.
“Hereditary” had all the film press applauding, but the big audience was a bit indifferent about it. And that will not be different for “Midsommar”. It’s dares to be different and doesn’t compare to any modern day horror films. No jump scares, no stereotypical characters or predictable storylines. Aster made some long shots, without cutting away and gives them time. As a viewer you feel discomfort settling in and it stars to feel a bit uneasy. “Midsommar” is not for everyone. but when you open up it, you can expect something you haven’t seen before.

Rating: 4 / 5