Netflix Friday - Volume 6

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

Action: Deepwater Horizon (2016)
A dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in American history.

Drama: Moonlight (2016)
A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence and burgeoning adulthood.

Comedy: Easy A (2010)
Clean-cut high school student Olive (Emma Stone) relies on the school’s rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

Animation: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
A hapless young Viking (Jay Baruchel) who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Romance: Clueless (1995)
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school’s pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.

Horror: Krampus (2015)
A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.

Science Fiction: Pacific Rim (2013)
As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.

Crime: Wind River (2017)
A veteran hunter (Jeremy Renner) helps an FBI-agent (Elizabeth Olsen) investigate the murder of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation.

Thriller: Captain Phillips
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

Documentary: Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020)
Survivors worldwide reveal the manipulation and emotional scars suffered at the hands of wealthy convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Their stories expose a sex trafficking ring of powerful enablers leading up to his 2019 arrest.

Family: The BFG
An orphan little girl befriends a benevolent giant (Mark Rylance) who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants that are invading the human world.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 56: Pacific Rim

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy/ Science Fiction

Runtime: 132 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Diego Klattenhoff, Burn Gorman, Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Clifton Collins Jr., Brad Williams Henke, Larry Joe Campbell, Joe Pingue, Milton Barnes

Description: As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and a trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.

Review: Gigantic aliens, called Kaiju, have stormed the planet. They come from a big hole in the ocean. Mankind fights back in big robots, called Jaegers, that are controlled by two pilots. But the Kaiju gets stronger and often come out of the ocean. That means they have to close the hole. It’s up to traumatized pilot Raleigh and the unexperiences Mako to save mankind.

“Pacific Rim” has a simple set up. If this movie would have been made by an average director, it would be terrible. But luckily for us there is Guillermo del Toro. The robots and monsters look fantastic and are very detailed. The opening is great and with the introduction of the main characters the story also looks more interesting. Sadly Del Toro didn’t manage to create characters without any clichés. Charlie Hunnam is well cast as Raleigh, but he is a bit dull at times. But he does have chemistry with Rinko Kikuchi. Idris Elba is marshall Stacker Pentecost and impresses. Although, I’m not sure about that cheesy speech he gave.

“Pacific Rim” is an overwhelming action movie, visually spectacular. The love that Guillermo de Toro has for monster movies is clearly present and that makes “Pacific Rim” a joy to watch. I was skeptical, but it was a lot better than I initially thought.

 

Rating: 3,3/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (64)

This weeks trailers are about the earth after a cataclysmic event, Roosevelt, adetective trying to take down his biggest enemy, a haunting and robots.

After Earth
Description: A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. Father and son must learn to work together and trust one another if they want any chance of returning home.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith
Trailer: Trailer "After Earth"
Comment: The trailer looks good, but I'm still a bit sceptic.

Hyde Park on Hudson
Description: In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Bill Murray) and his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams) host the King and Queen of England (Samuel West, Olivia Colman) for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York, the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America. With Britain facing imminent war with Germany, the Royals are desperately looking to FDR for support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR's domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one. Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Laura Linney), Franklin's distant cousin, neighbor, and intimate, the weekend will produce not only a special relationship between two great nations, but, for Daisy, for us all, a deeper understanding of the mysteries of love and friendship.
Director: Roger Michell
Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Colman, Samuel West, Elizabeth Marvel, Elizabeth Wilson, Eleanor Bron, Olivia Williams
Trailer: Trailer "Hyde Park on Hudson"
Comment: Bill Murray can hardly do anything wrong.

Welcome to the Punch
Description: When a notorious criminal is forced to return to London, it gives a detective one last chance to take down the man he's always been after.
Director: Eran Creevy
Starring: James McAvoy, Mark Strong, Elyes Gabel, David Morrissey, Peter Mullan, Daniel Mays, Andrea Riseborough
Trailer: Trailer "Welcome to the Punch"

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia
Description: When Andy Wyrick (Chad Michael Murray) moves his wife Lisa (Abigail Spencer) and daughter Heidi to an historic home in Georgia, they quickly discover they are not the house's only inhabitants. Joined by Lisa's free-spirited sister, Joyce (Katee Sackhoff), the family soon comes face-to-face with a bone-chilling mystery born of a deranged desire, a haunting secret rising from underground and threatening to bring down anyone in its path.
Director: Tom Elkins
Starring: Chad Michael Murray, Abigail Spencer, Katee Sackhoff, Emily Alyn Lind, Cicely Tyson
Trailer: Trailer "The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia"

Pacific Rim
Description: When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes,a washed up former pilot and an untested trainee who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, Clifton Collins, Jr., Burn Gorman, Larry Joe Campbell, Brad William Henke, Diego Klattenhoff
Trailer: Trailer "Pacific Rim"
Comment: This actually look awefull, but it's directed by Guillermo del Toro. The same guy from "Pan's Labyrinth, so something has to be good.