Netflix Friday - Volume 92

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

Action: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.
 

Drama: Rocketman (2019)
A musical fatasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John’s (Taron Edgerton) breakthrough.
 

Comedy: Paddleton (2019)
An unlikely friendschip between two misfit neighbors (Mark Duplass, Ray Romano) becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when the younger man is diagnose with terminal cancer.
 

Animation: Shrek (2001)
A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre (Mike Myers), who must go on a quest and rescue a princess (Cameron Diaz) for the lord in order to get his land back.
 

Romance: Bride Wars (2009)
Two best friends (Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway) become rivals when they schedule their respective weddings on the same day.
 

Horror: Final Destination 3 (2006)
Six years after students cheated death, another teen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead has a premonition she and her friends will be involved in an accident. When the vision proves true, the students and survivors deal with the repercussions of cheating the Grim Reaper.
 

Science Fiction: Gravity (2013)
Two astronauts (Sandra Bullock, George Clooney) work together to survive after an accident leaves them stranded in space.
 

Crime: Goodfellas (1990)
The story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill (Lorraine Bracco) and his mob partners Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) in the Italian-American crime syndicate.
 

Thriller: Nocturnal Animals (2016)
A wealthy art gallery owner (Amy Adams) is haunted by her ex-husband’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a symbolic revenge tale.
 

Documentary: Punk in London (1977)
A contemporary documentary covering the Great British punk rock explosion of 1977.
 

Family: Mijn Beste Vriendin Anne Frank (2021)
This story is based on the memoirs of Anne Frank’s friend Hannah Goslar.

Netflix Friday - Volume 65

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 Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of a rising darkness.
 

Drama: Rocketman (2019)
A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John’s (Taran Edgerton) breakthrough).
 

Comedy: Ghostbusters (1984)
Three former parapsychology professors (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis) set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.
 

Animation: Sherlock Gnomes (2018)
Garden gnomes, Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt), recruit renowned detective Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments.
 

Romance: Top Gun (1986)
As students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in class, one daring young pilot (Tom Cruise) learns a few things from a civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) that are not taught in the classroom.
 

Horror: Saint Maud (2019)
Follows a pious nurse (Morfydd Clarke) who becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.
 

Science Fiction: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
A troubled child (Henry Thomas) summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home world.
 

Crime: Wild Things (1998)
A police detective (Kevin Bacon) uncovers a conspiracy behind a case involving a high-school guidance counselor (Matt Dillon) when accusations of rape are made against him by two female students (Neve Campbell, Denise Richards).
 

Thriller: The Good Liar (2019)
Consummate con man Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen) has set his sight on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes.
 

Documentary: Fantastic Fungi (2019)
Fantastic Fungi is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that begins 3.5 billion years ago.
 

Family: Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them (2016)
The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.

Movie Reviews - Rocketman

Director: Dexter Fletcher
Genre: Drama/ Music
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Taron Edgerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Gemma Jones, Tate Donovan, Stephen Graham

Description: A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John’s (Taron Edgerton) breakthrough years.

Review: In almost every article about this Elton John biopic “Rocketman”, it’s being comaired to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which came out in 2018. This isn’t strange, since both films focus on a British singer of the same generation that are outstanding musicians, struggle with alcohol, drugs and homosexuality, who take on a stage name and have a flamboyant trademark. Both movies are named after their biggest hit. And Bryan Singer directed “Bohemian Rhapsody”, but initially was meant to be directed by Dexter Fletcher, now director of “Rocketman”.
Both movies are very different when it comes to style. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a more conventional biopic, but “Rocketman” is a musical. Where Elton John tells his life story through song. It’s a logical choice, but not for a biopic about the titular musician. But it works really well. All songs were re-recorded for this film and everything was sung by leading man Taron Edgerton himself. Especially the first hour of the film is very strong, when eventually the story will follow a more conventional path as well. We see Elton in a toxic relationship with John Reid and he eventually can’t resist the alcohol, drugs and other men. His career isn’t only in danger, but also strong bonds he has with certain people. It’s the cliché part of a musical biopic.
Taron Edgerton is a good choice for Elton John. The young actor proofs that he is a capable singer and he can carry a movie. He doesn’t always sound like Elton John, but that’s not an issue. He did his own singing, which makes it more authentic and his acting is tremendous.
I was surprised by some heavy themes in the story. I didn’t know Elton John’s story at all and I was quite shocked about his past and everything he had to deal with in his life.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movies to Look Forward to - May 2019

Some great action and spectacle coming up in May.

May 8th – Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
Director: Rob Letterman
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Suki Waterhouse, Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy
Description: In a world where people collect Pokémon to do battle, a boy comes across an intelligent talking Pikachu who seeks to be a detective.

May 16th – John Wick 3: Parabellum
Director: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Jerome Flynn, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Anjelica Huston, Lance Reddick Description: Super-Assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run after killing a member of the international assassin's guild, and with a $14 million price tag on his head - he is the target of hit men and women everywhere.

May 23rd – Ad Astra
Director: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Jamie Kennedy
Description: Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet.

May 23rd – Brightburn
Director: David Yarovesky
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman
Description: What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?

May 30th – Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Director: Michael Dougherty
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Charles Dance, Bradley Whitford, David Strathairn, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, CCH Pounder
Description: The crypto-zoological agency Monarch faces off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah.

May 30th – Ma
Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Missi Pyle, Luke Evans, Allison Janney
Description: A lonely woman (Octavia Spencer) befriends a group of teenagers and decides to let them party at her house. Just when the kids think their luck couldn't get any better, things start happening that make them question the intention of their host.

May 30th – Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taran Edgerton, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Tate Donovan, Stephen Graham
Description: A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's (Taran Edgerton) breakthrough years.