Netflix Friday - Volume 107

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 Lost City of Z (2016)
British explorer Percival Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) disappeared whilst searching for a mysterious city in the Amazon in the 1920s.
 

Drama: Schindler’s List (1993)
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
 

Comedy: Senior Year (2022)
A cheerleading stunt gone wrong landed Stephanie (Rebel Wilson) in a 20-year coma. Now she’s 37, newly awake and ready to live out her high school dream: becoming prom queen.
 

Animation: Apollo 10 ½
A coming-of-age story set in the suburbs of Houston, Texas in the summer of 1969, centered around the historic Apollo 11 moon landing.
 

Romance: How Do You Know (2010)
After being cut from thd U.S.A. softball team and feeling a bit past her prime, Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) finds herself evaluating her life and in the middle of a love triangle, as a corporate guy (Paul Rudd) in crisis competes with her current, baseball playing beau (Owen Wilson).
 

Horror: Dark Shadows (2012)
An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.
 

Science Fiction: Mute (2018)
A mute bartender (Alexander Skarsgård) goes up against his city’s gangsters (Justin Theroux, Paul Rudd) to find out what happened to his missing partner
 

Crime : Papillon (2017)
Wrongfully convicted for murder, Henri Charriere (Charlie Hunnam) forms an unlikely relationship with fellow inmate and quirky convicted counterfeiter, Louis Dega (Rami Malek), in an attempt to escape from the notorious penal colony on Devil’s Island.
 

Thriller: Taken (2008)
A retired CIA agent (Liam Neeson) travel across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter (Maggie Grace), who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
 

Documentary: Our Father (2022)
After a woman’s at-home DNA test reveals multiple half-siblings, she discovers a shocking scheme involving donor sperm and a popular fertility doctor.
 

Family: The Karate Kid (2010)
Work causes a single mother (Taraji P. Henson) to move to China with her young son (Jaden Smith); in his new home the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master (Jackie Chan).

Netflix Friday - Volume 51

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

Action: Rambo: First Blood (1982)
A veteran Green Beret (Sylvester Stallone) is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
 

Drama: Concrete Cowboy (2021)
Sent to live with his estranged father for the summer, a rebellious teen finds kinship in a tight-knit Philadelphia community of Black Cowboys.
 

Comedy: Liar Liar (1997)
A fast-track lawyer (Jim Carrey) can’t lie for 24 hours due to his son’s birthday wish after he disappoints his son for the last time.
 

Animation: Monsters Vs. Aliëns (2009)
A woman (Reese Witherspoon) transformed into a giant after she is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day becomes part of a team of monsters sent in by the U.S. government to defeat an alien mastermind trying to take over Earth.
 

Romance: The Half of It (2020)
When smart but cash-strapped teen Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) agrees to write a love letter for a jock (Daniel Diemer), she doesn’t expect to become his friend, or fall for his crush (Alexxis Lemire)
 

Horror: Child’s Play 3 (1991)
Chucky returns for revenge against Andy, the young boy who defeated him, and now a teenager living in a military academy.
 

Science Fiction: Stowaway (2021)
A stowaway on a mission to Mars sets off a series of unintended consequences.
 

Crime: The Big Lebowski (1998)
Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies (John Goodman, Steve Buscemi) to help get.
 

Thriller: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Jack Ryan (Chris Pine), as a young covert C.I.A. analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.
 

Documentary: Life in Color (2021)
Exploring the many ways animals use color throughout their lives.
 

Family: The Karate Kid (1984)
A martial arts master (Pat Morita) agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager (Ralph Macchio)

Netflix Friday - Volume 8

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

Action: Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Following the Normandy Landings, a groups of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper (Matt Damon) whose brothers have been killed in action.

Drama: Lion (2016)
A five-year-old Indian boy is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman, David Wenham) after getting lost hundreds of kilometers from home. 25 years later, he (Dev Patel) sets out to find his lost family.

Comedy: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.

Animation: Kung Fu Panda (2008)
The Dragon Warrior has to clash against the savage Tai Lung as China’s fate hangs in the balance. However, the Dragon Warrior mantle is supposedly mistaken to be bestowed upon an obese panda (Jack Black) who is a novice in martial arts.

Romance: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Lara Jean (Lana Condor) is a teenage girl whose secret love letters are exposed and wreak havoc on her love life.

Horror: Christine (1983)
A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.

Science Fiction: Jurassic Park (1993)
A pragmatic paleontologist (Sam Neill) visiting an almost complete theme park is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park’s cloned dinosaurs to run loose.

Crime: Django Unchained (2012)
With the help of a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz), a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) sets out to rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Thriller: The Da Vinci Code (2006)
A murder inside the Louvre, and clues in Da Vinci paintings, lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.

Documentary: Virunga (2014)
A team of brace individuals risk their lives to protect the last mountain gorillas.

Family: The Karate Kid (1984)
A boy (Ralph Macchio) and his mother move to California for a new job. He struggles to fit in, as a group of karate students starts to bully him for dating a rich girl (Elizabeth Shue) from their clique. It’s up to the Japanse landlord Miyagi (Pat Morita) to teach him karate.

80s Movie Review - The Karate Kid

Director: John G. Avildsen
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 127 minutes
Year: 1984
Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, William Zabka

Description: Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and his mother move to California for a new job. He struggles to fit in, as a group of karate students starts to bully him for dating a rich girl (Elisabeth Shue) from their clique. It’s up to the Japanese landlord, Miyaji (Pat Morita), to teach him karate.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 8: A MOVIE FROM THE YEAR YOU WERE BORN

Review: Daniel Larusso moves from the East coast of America to a small town on the West coast. His mother got a job here and Daniel isn’t really happy about the move. He tries to make the best of it and connects with the local teens. Daniel meets Ali, a beautiful young woman who seems to be interested in Daniel as well. But her former boyfriend Johnny isn’t happy about this at all. He is one of the best students at the local karate school and uses his skills to bully Daniel. Daniel wants to learn karate too and gets help from the Japanese handyman Miyagi, who teaches he everything that he needs to know about the sport.
“The Karate Kid” was released in 1984 and was a big hit at the time. And for many people today it is a classic that brings back good memories. It has a catchy and entertaining story, characters you sympathize with, a dose of drama and romance, rounded off with some humor and action. The story is somewhat simple, but it eventually has more layers. And themes this movie focuses on are still very topical to date.
One of the strongest elements of the film is Pat Morita and his character Miyagi. He earned an Oscar-nomination for this role and he will forever be linked to this character. The character has been further elaborated well, certainly on closer examination. Ralph Macchio is good as Daniel too, but when he is in a scene with Morita, it’s clearly Morita that steals the show.
The film is not timeless, because the bad guy is stereotypical for any 80s film.
“Karate Kid” is a great movie that touches topics like bullying, friendship, honor and believing in yourself. Topics that still matter today.

Rating: 4 / 5