10s Movie Review - Shimmer Lake

Director: Oren Uziel
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 86 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Benjamin Walker, Rainn Wilson, Ron Livingston, Rob Corddry, Stephanie Sigman, Mark Rendall, Wyatt Russell, Matthew Evans Landry, John Michael Higgins

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 36: A CRIME MOVIE

Description: A crime thriller told backwards – reversing day by day through a week – following a local sheriff’s (Benjamin Walker) quest to unlock the mystery of three small town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.

Review: The crime film “Shimmer Lake” tells us the reverse story of a bank robbery. The end of the film is the beginning and the beginning the end. Sheriff Zeke Sikes investigates the robbery, in which his brother Andy is involved. He gets help from his assistant and tow FBI-agents who prefer to do something else.
The plot isn’t original, but the way the story is told is. Otherwise it would be just another crime story. But sadly, it still is. Because the film isn’t all that special and very forgettable. Although it has a good cast, the acting isn’t that great and the dialogue feels like dialogue, instead of actual conversations that people would have in real life. It’s to scripted, if you understand why I mean.
I actually found the film rather boring an uneventful and I wouldn’t recommend it. The film could have been so much more.

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Reviews - The Meg

Director: John Turteltaub
Genre: Action
Runtime: 113 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Jason Statham, Cliff Curtis, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Bingbing Li, Winston Chao, Masi Oka, Jessica McNamee, Page Kennedy, Robert Taylor

Description: After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible.

Review: Shark movies are kind of my guilty pleasure, I love watching them, good or bad. As far as I know, “Jaws” is the only perfect movie in this subgenre. “The Meg” is definitely not a masterpiece, but for what it is, it’s a super fun film to watch.
Jason Statham plays Jonas Taylor, an expert in submarine rescues. His help is wanted when a deep sea expedition has gone wrong and his ex-wife and her colleagues are stuck on the bottom of the ocean. It’s a new discovered area and this is not the only thing they discover. It also has a 25 meter shark down there: a megalodon that was claimed to be extinct.
The barrier is broken and the megalodon swims into the deep blue sea. And ‘the meg’ is extremely strong, hungry, aggressive and fast and could easily bite through a whale. Reason enough for Jonas to stop this animal. Together with the expedition team, he is determined to kill it.
When a director takes a movie like this too serious, it’s instantly a bad film. John Turteltaub knows what it is and doesn’t fall into that trap. This film is never too serious and it’s a big wink to those films that do. Yes, it’s over the top sometimes and no the depth of the plot isn’t really great. But it fits here.
“The Meg” is extremely entertaining, especially when you love shark movies. It has the right amount of humor, a cool hero and pretty good visuals. And it has a high rewatchability level. If you go in thinking it’s another “Jaws”, you will hate it. But it’s not even pretending to be “Jaws”.
For what it is, “The Meg” is a fun movie, a perfect summer blockbuster without too much substance. And I actually loved Jason Statham in this film (usually not a big fan). So if you go in with minimal expectations and shut of your brain for two hours, you’re going to have a blast!

Rating: 3,5 / 5

Top 5 Thursday: Pranks Jim Pulled on Dwight on "The Office"

“The Office US” is one of my favorite shows. I liked the concept, the characters and the humor, but maybe my favorite parts was the rivalry between Jim and Dwight. Jim lived for pranking Dwight, so I ranked my five favorite pranks.

5. Jim convinces Dwight he is a vampire
After Dwight finds a bat and lets it loose around the office, Jim claims he was bitten by it. He then pretends to burn his hand on garlic bread, touches his teeth as if he’s getting fangs and pretends to get a headache from Angela’s crucifiz. This convinces Dwight that Jim is now a vampre.

4. Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O
This is the first Jim/ Dwight prank. Dwight angrily retrieves a plate of Jell-o with his stapler stuck in it. Jim asks Dwight: “How dow you know it was me?” while eating a pot of Jell-o.

3. Tricking Dwight into thinking it’s Friday instead of Thursday
Dwight think’s it’s Friday, so Jim and Pam try to convince him further, causing Dwight to miss work the next day. And he also claimed he had never been late.

2. Wrapping paper desk
When Dwight arrives to a gift-wrapped gift, he thinks Jim has just gone to the trouble of wrapping up all his belongings. In fact, everything is made out of cardboard and when Dwight sits down, he falls and destroys the whole thing.

1. Dwight’s desk items in the vending machine
Jim manages to put all the contents on Dwight’s desk in the offive vending machine. Dwight now has to buy all of his own stuff back with the nickels Jim gives him.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Steve takes Jim’s place, Jim dresses up as Dwight, Faxes from ‘Future Dwight’, Velcro suit

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 19: Galaxy Quest

Director: Dean Parisot

Genre: Adventure/ Science Fiction/ Comedy

Runtime: 102 minutes

Year: 1999

Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Missi Pyle, Justin Long, Rainn Wilson

Description: The alumni cast of a space opera television series have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help.

Review: Sigourney Weaver is no stranger to the science fiction genre. In “Galaxy Quest” this genre is mocked. Together with Tim Allen and Alan Rickman, they play actors from an old science fiction TV show called “Galaxy Quest”.

The movie starts with a segment from that show, that stopped running after 1982. Eighteen years later the actors are still going to conventions in the costumes of their characters. The relationship between all the actors isn’t as good as it used to be. Jason Nesmith, who played Commander Taggert on the show, is the only one who’s still happy with his fame. The others are annoyed by his arrogance.

The next day, Jason wakes up with a hangover and a group of strange people is waiting for him at the door. They ask Jason to join them on their spaceship, not knowing that they are actual aliens, to fight the evil General Sarris. Jason manages to get the rest of the cast to go with him. The aliens think that the TV show is a documentary and see the actors as their role models. Their spaceship is an exact copy of the one in the TV show.

If you know “Star Trek”, you can see many resemblances. This is what the creators wanted, because the film mocks the genre. “Galaxy Quest” is really funny, both when it comes to the characters and the situations they get themselves into. Tim Allen is perfect for a movie like this and Sigourney Weaver fits in as well. Alan Rickman not so much, so you would think, but this is one of his best roles. He is surprisingly hilarious and steals every scene he is in. I also loved Sam Rockwell, who plays a character who had a guest role on the show once and his character died. Now he is afraid he will die in real life.

“Galaxy Quest” is a movie that many people probably won’t like, because it’s sometimes a bit ridiculous. But I loved this movie!

Rating: 4,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 40: Hesher

Director: Spencer Susser
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 2010
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson, Devin Brochu, Piper Laurie

Description: The young TJ (Devin Brochu) has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father (Rainn Wilson) and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who manages to make his life even more chaotic.

Review: Is there anything Joseph Gordon-Levitt can’t do? From a child star he grew to be one of the most diverse actors of his generation. In “Hesher” he portrays an asocial head banger with strange morals.
He pops into TJ’s life, who just lost his mother. TJ can’t share his grief with his dad, who has gone into a big depression ever since it happened. And his caring grandmother can’t help him either, because she is constantly confused. Why Hesher is there and what he’s doing, no one knows.
There are more movies about dealing with the loss of a loved one, but they are hardly ever as unconventional as “Hesher”. By adding this notable character, director Susser turns this film from a standard drama to a special and refreshing film. When you dig a bit deeper you can tell Hesher symbolizes death. TJ and his dad have to learn to deal with it and grandma is the only one who accepts it immediately.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt shows us again his qualities, because even as the strange Hesher he succeeds to convince everyone. Rainn Wilson was surprisingly touching, because he’s most known for his quirky role as Dwight Shrute in “The Office”. Piper Laurie was fantastic as grandma and Devon Brochu was mesmerizing. Natalie Portman was solid as always.
“Hesher” was lifted to its level by the cast, but the story loses his power toward the end. The debut of director Spencer Susser shows a lot of guts and he dares to be different.

Rating: 3,5/ 5