Netflix Friday - Volume 23

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 – Rogue Nation (2015)
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team take on their most impossible mission yet when they have to eradicate an international rogue organization as highly skilled as they are and committed to destroying the IMF.
 

Drama: Manchester By the Sea (2016)
A depressed uncle (Casey Affleck) is asked to take care of his teenage nephew (Lucas Hedges) after the boy’s father (Kyle Chandler) dies.
 

Comedy: Rush Hour (1998)
A loyal and dedicated Hong Kong Inspector (Jackie Chan) teams up with a reckless and loudmouthed L.A.P.D. detective (Chris Tucker) to rescue the Chinese Consul’s kidnapped daughter, while trying to arrest a dangerous crime lord along the way.
 

Animation: Despicable Me 2
When Gru (Steve Carell), the world’s most super-bad turned super-dad has been recruited by a team of officials to stop lethal muscle and a host of Gru’s own. He has to fight back with new gadgetry, cars, and more minion madness.
 

Romance: Wedding Crashers (2005)
John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn), a pair of committed womanizers who sneak into weddings to take advantage of the romantic tinge in the air, find themselves at odds with one another when John meets and falls for Claire Cleary (Rachel McAdams)
 

Horror: Dawn of the Dead (2004)
A group of survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.
 

Science Fiction: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman (Charlize Theron) rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max (Tom Hardy)
 

Crime: True Grit (2010)
A stubborn teenager (Hailee Steinfeld) enlists the help od a tough U.S. Marshal (Jeff Bridges) to track down her father’s murderer.
 

Thriller: The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)
Israel’s Mossad agents attempt to rescue Ethiopian Jewish refugees in Sudan in 1979.
 

Documentary: National Parks Adventure (2016)
Coinciding with the National Parks Centennial, “National Parks Adventure” celebrates America’s natural wonders. Narrated by Robert Redford, it follows a trio of adventurers and revisits Roosevelt and Muir’s camping trip when the Park System was born.
 

Family: Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
The discovery of a massive river of ectoplasm and a resurgence of spectral activity allows the staff of Ghostbusters to revive the business.

Movie Reviews - The Red Sea Diving Resort

Director: Gideon Raff
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 129 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Chris Evans, Alessandro Nivola, Haley Bennett, Ben Kingsley, Greg Kinnear, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michiel Huisman, Alex Hassell

Description: Israel’s Mossad agents attempt to rescue Ethiopian Jewish refugees in Sudan in 1977.

Review: The new Netflix original film “The Red Sea Diving Resort” premiered on July 31st. The film tells the true story of a group of heroes that rescued big groups of Ethiopian Jewish refuges by working from a hotel in Sudan.
The Ethiopian civil war caused a lot of people their lives. It’s 1977. At the time, Ethiopian Jews could use the so-called ‘Law of Return’: they had the right to settle in Israel and become an Israelian citizen. In “The Red Sea Diving Resort” we see how a group of Mossad agents, led by Ari Levinson, save groups of Ethiopian Jews at the start of the 80s. Their cover: a abandoned hotel near the Red Sea, in Sudan. And since actual tourist start visiting the hotel, it’s the best cover they could ask for.
Netflix managed to assemble a great, strong cast. Chris Evans carries the film, as Ari Levinson, but is well supported by Haley Bennett, Michiel Huisman, Alessandro Nivola, Ben Kingsley and Greg Kinnear. Also worth mentioning is Michael Kenneth Williams, who also did a fantastic job in another Netflix jewel, “When They See Us”.
The civil war in Ethiopia is one of those “silent wars”, that no one was talking about and didn’t get attention. Simply no one really cared, even though a lot of people died here. The story can be compared to films like “Argo” and “Munich”, where they used an every day thing as their big cover, to rescue people. I think Ari Levinson and his group are the real heroes, also people that we never talk about. And they actually made a difference. At least to the many refugees that manage to find a safe haven because of them.
The film has a heavy theme, but manages to have some light moments here and there. For example the moment where they have to actually work in the hotel, when a group of tourists unexpectedly arrives. And there is a great montage in the film that shows how they manage to run a hotel as well as saving the refugees.
I think stories like this should never stay untold. And the perfect way is through film, because you will reach a big audience. I really loved this film, it’s a very solid movie.

Rating: 4,5/ 5