Netflix Friday - Volume 84

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

Action: 13 Hours (2016)
During an attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.
 

Drama: The Unforgivable (2021)
A woman (Sandra Bullock) is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
 

Comedy: Lady Bird (2017)
In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl (Saoirse Ronan) comes of age in Sacramento, California.
 

Animation: The Polar Express (2004)
On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.
 

Romance: The Notebook (2004)
A poor yet passionate young man (Ryan Gosling) falls in love with a rich young woman (Rachel McAdams), giving her a sense of freedom, but they are soon separated because of their social differences.
 

Horror: Crawl (2019)
A young woman (Kaya Scodelario), while attempting to save her father (Barry Pepper) during a category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.
 

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: Jackie Brown (1997)
A flight attendant (Pam Grier) with a criminal past gets nabbed by the FBI for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the drug dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.
 

Thriller: Shutter Island (2010)
In 1954, a U.S. Marshal (Leonardo DiCaprio) investigates the disappearance of s murderer who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.  
 

Documentary: Lead Me Home (2021)
“Lead Me Home” is a short film that follows several people living on the streets in West Coast cities.

Family: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
The Turtles get into another battle with their enemy the Shredder, who has acquired new allies: the mutant thugs Bebop and Rocksteady and the alien being Krang.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 87: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Comedy/ Fantasy/ Science Fiction

Runtime: 101 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Pete Plszek, Johnny Knoxville, Jeremy Howard, Danny Woodburn, Tony Shalhoub, Tohuru Masamune, Whoopi Goldberg, Minae Noji, Abby Elliot, Madison Mason

Description: When a kingpin threatens New York City, a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home.

Review: It started out as a parody, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles became extremely popular in the 90s. Comics, a TV show, toys and their own movie.

The announcement of a new Michael Bay produced movie was received skeptical. It appeared that the turtles weren’t mutated turtles, but aliens. This was just a rumor, because the story stayed very close to the original. Although there are some adjustments here and there.

In “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” the turtles aren’t portrayed by professional fighters in costumes, but they are full CGI creations. But before we get to see them, we meet reporter April O’Neill, assisted by her cameraman Vernon. Wanting more excitement, April digs deeper into the whereabouts of the infamous Foot Clan, led by the evil Shredder. During her investigation, she discovers the turtles and their master Splinter.

The opening prologue is really impressive, in comic book style. The individual characters stay close to how they were intended: nerdy Donatello, leader Leonardo, joker Michelangelo and rebel Raphael. And they look pretty good, but there is a CGI overkill. Shredder looks different, more like he should be in one of the “Transformers” movies. And Splinter lost its original look as well. The story also feels uninspiring, but there is only a few directions you can go into with four giant turtles. But the budget was obviously spend on the action sequences. The movie also has lots of humor. I caught myself laughing a couple of times, because it really felt like the old cartoons again.

Megan Fox is great eye candy, but she hasn’t improved her acting since the “Transformers”. Will Arnett doesn’t really get a lot to do. His comedic talent was a little lost.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is entertaining, but not very good. If you are familiar with the cartoon from the 90s, you’re not completely satisfied, because it could have been a lot better. But it could also be a lot worse. It’s not as bad as I expected it to be.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (132)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Night Moves

Description: A drama centered on three environmentalists who plot to blow up a dam.

Director: Kelly Reichardt

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard

Trailer: Trailer "Night Moves"

Comment: Looks gripping and suspenseful

Into the Storm

Description: In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Director: Steven Quale

Starring: Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Arlen Escarpeta, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, Jeremy Sumpter, Kyle Davis, Jon Reep and Scott Lawrence

Trailer: Trailer "Into the Storm"

Comment: For some reason I Always like disaster movies, maybe it's one of my guilty pleasures.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Description: From their home in the storm sewers of Manhattan, four Ninjitsu-trained turtles, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello and their sensei, Master Splinter, battle evil.

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Starring: Megan Fox, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Will Arnett, Danny Woodburn and William Fichtner

Trailer: Trailer "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

Comment: I grew up with the cartoons and I loved the films already made. Kinda looking forward to this!

 

Words and Pictures

Description: Prep school English teacher Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) laments his students' obsession with social media and good grades rather than engaging with the power of the written word. A one-time literary star, Jack has not published in years filling his spare time with drink versus the art of language. He meets his match in Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche), an abstract painter and new teacher on campus, who was once celebrated for her art. From the start, the two flirt and provoke each other with equal relish.

Director: Fred Schepisi

Starring: Clive Owen Juliette Binoche

Trailer: Trailer "Words and Pictures"

Comment: Yeahhh, want to see this.

Begin Again

Description: Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City.

Director: John Carney

Starring: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, Hailee Steinfeld, Catherine Keener and James Corden

Trailer: Trailer "Begin Again"

Comment: Keira and Mark are two of my favorites!!