Netflix Friday - Volume 32

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

Action: Colombiana (2011)
A young woman (Zoe Saldana), after witnessing her parents’ murder as child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin.
 

Drama: To the Bone (2017)
A young woman (Lily Collins), dealing with anorexia, meets and unconventional doctor (Keanu Reeves) who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.
 

Comedy: Ted (2012)
John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a man whose childhoof wish of bringin his teddy bear to life came true, now must decided between keeping the relationship with the bear Ted (Seth McFarlane) or his girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis).
 

Animation: Animal Crackers (2017)
A family must use a magical box of Animal Crackers to save a run-down circus from being taken over by their evil uncle Horatio P. Huntington (Ian McKellen)
 

Romance: Before We Go (2014)
Two strangers (Chris Evans, Alive Eve) stuck in Manhattan for the night grow into each other’s most trusted confidants when an evening of unexpected adventure forces them to confront their fears and take control of their lives.
 

Horror: The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, there they get more than they bargained for, discovering the truth behind the cabin in the woods.
 

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

Crime: Brooklyn’s Finest (2009)
Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths.
 

Thriller: Identity (2003)
Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they’re being killed off one by one.
 

Documentary: The Last Dance (2020)
Charting the rise of the 1990s Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, one of the most notable dynasties in sports history.
 

Family: Nanny McPhee (2005)
A governess (Emma Thompson) uses magic to rein the behavior of seven ne’er-do-well children in her charge.
 

TV Show Review - Outlander (Season 2)

Season: 2
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Mystery/ Crime
Number of episodes: 13
Year: 2016
Starring: Catriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Duncan LaCroix, Tobias Menzies, Graham MacTavish, Laura Donnelly, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, Romann Berrux

Description: An English combat nurse (Catriona Balfe) from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.  

Review: To sum up season 1: Claire, on her second honeymoon, disappears without a trace and ends up in 1743 Scotland. There she falls in love with the gorgeous, red-haired highlander Jamie Fraser. She marries him and adapts to the life in 1743. Meanwhile her husband Frank, in a completely different time, looks for his wife. The first season of “Outlander” had a lot to offer and left us all wanting more. That first season ended with the departure of Claire and Jamie to France. There Claire tells a wounded and abused Jamie that he is going to be a father. With that image the first season ended.
Then the start of season 2. Claire is back in 1948, lying in front of the stones. With just one question burning on her lips: who won Culloden? The English or the Scots? Were they able to change history as discussed? The answer came as a shock to her. And Frank is also in shock. His beloved Claire is finally back after three years. And she is pregnant.
What happened in those three years can be seen in the second season of “Outlander”.  Can Jamie and Claire change history? Can they make the Scots win Culloden and can they secure their own future in Scotland?
Was the second season as good as the first? No, unfortunately not. The first season was good, perfect, romantic, exciting, emotional and I felt the bond between Jamie and Claire. In the second season, I missed that connection from time to time. And the parts set in France aren’t as exciting as the parts set in Scotland. So the second half of the season is better then the first. The season focuses more on Claire, not so much on Claire and Jamie together.
But that feeling I missed for most of the season, was all brought back in the final episode. The 90 minute finale is beautiful. The episodes sometimes switch between 1746 and 1968, where we see an older Claire, her daughter Brianna and Roger Wakefield. In 1746 we see the desperate Claire, who wants to stay with Jamie. And the determined Jamie, who is prepared to die on the battlefield. He demands that Claire goes back to her own time, and raise their child.
At the very end, the opening scenes of season 2 finally make sense and the circle is connected. And again we are left wanting more.

10s Movie Review - Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Director: Luc Besson
Genre: Science Fiction/ Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevigne, Clive Own, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Sam Spruell, Kris Wu, Herbie Hancock, Rutger Hauer

Description: A dark force threathens, Aplha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operative Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevigne)  must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 48: A MOVIE SET IN SPACE

Review: “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”: a spectacular yet chaotic film, with ugly computer-generated aliens and a wooden love plot.
The stories about the intergalactic secret agent Valerian find their origin in a series of French comic strips released in the mid-1960s. Director Luc Besson must have been a big fan of the books, he tried to bring the phenomenon to the screen. Hoping for the new “Star Wars”. Well, that didn’t happen…
When it comes to visuals of the world of Valerian, it’s really good. It’s just such a shame that it has to have a screenplay attached to it. Because almost everything that can go wrong, goes wrong.
There is hardly a story. An artifact of an extinct civilization pops up and several parties want their share of it. The survivors of the race want to rebuilt their cultire, one group of people wants to investigate it and yet another group has nefarious plans to do so. Main characters Valerian and Laureline are of course the second group, that wants to make sure that the best possible solution is chosen.
So simple, but that’s not a problem when then background is a bit interesting and you are invested in the characters. But none of that is present. The two actors, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevigne, miss every spark of charisma. DeHaan doesn’t come across as the rough space adventurer he has to portray. Instead, he feels more like a Keanu Reeves impersonator that completely misses the point. Delevigne is not much better. The love story is wooden and the dialogues are sometimes cringeworthy.
The list of error the film has is endless. Because despite the visual beauty, the context is missing. It’s messy, chaotic and it lacks interesting characters. “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” doesn’t even come close to being the new “Star Wars”.

Rating: 1, 5/ 5

Netflix Friday - Volume 31

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

Action: Red (2010)
When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) reassembles his old team in a last-ditch effort to survive and uncover his assailants.
 

Drama: Loving (2016)
The story of Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga), a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court’s historic 1967 decision.
 

Comedy: Neighbors (2014)
After they are forced to live next door to a fraternity, a couple (Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne) with a newborn baby do whatever they can to take them down.
 

Animation: Small Foot (2018)
A Yeti is convinced that the elusive creatures known as ‘humans’ really do exist.
 

Romance: The Lucky One (2012)
A marine (Zac Efron) travels to Louisiana after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman (Taylor Schilling) he believes was his good luck charm during the war.
 

Horror: The Boy (2016)
An American nanny (Lauren Cohan) is shocked that her new English family’s boy is actually a life-sized doll. After she violets a list of strict rules, disturbing events make her believe that the doll is really alive.
 

Science Fiction: Serenity (2005)
The crew of the ship Serenity try to evade an assassin sent to recapture one of their members who is telepathic.
 

Crime: Triple 9 (2016)
A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.
 

Thriller: The Commuter (2018)
An insurance salesman/ ex-cop (Liam Neeson) is caught up in a life-threatening conspiracy during his daily commute home.
 

Documentary: Behind the Curve (2018)
Meet real Flat Earthers, a small but growing contingent of people who firmly believe in a conspiracy to suppress the truth that the Earth is flat.
 

Family: Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
With their daughter Blair away, Luther and Nora Krank (Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis) decide to skip Christmas all together until she decides to come home, causing an uproar when they have to celebrate it al the last minute.

Movie Review - Bloodshot

Director: Dave Wilson
Genre: Action/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Vin Diesel, Guy Pearce, Sam Heughan, iza González, Toby Kebbell, Talulah Rileu, Lamorne Morris, Siddharth Dhananjay

Description: Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel), a slain soldier, is re-animated with superpowers.

Review: One of the most frustrating viewing experiences is when a film cleverly starts to work out its premise, but then throws all the intelligence overboard to offer only cheap entertainment. Not that there’s anything wrong with no-brainer movies, but if you don’t intent to live up to your pretensions, leave them out completely. That way, no one needs to be disappointed. “Bloodshot” shows that there is a superlative to this experience: a film that starts out as a stupid blockbuster, then reveals a lot smarter than you initially thought, only to end up as a stupid action film.
Based on the first half of “Bloodshot”, it seems perfectly clear what kind of mediocre film we are dealing with. Vin Diesel is once again portrayed as a tough mourner, who, as a super soldier, manages to complete every impossible mission. But is also a good husband for the woman he always comes home to safely afterwards. The war mission from this opening phase uses the now widely palette of “Black Hawk Down”, but after Ray’s homecoming we get an idyllic gathering with his wife.
After a bloody confrontation, Ray wakes up in laboratory, where he is told that he has died and has not only been brought back to life by state-of-the-art technology, but has also improved a lot. No only has his physical strength increased enormously and is he practically invulnerable, but the technology in his body also makes him omniscient.
It kind of feels like “RoboCop”. Because apart from a revived protagonist who can connect the necessary dots in his computer brain, there are war veterans who get robotized replacements for missing limbs.
Since Ray can’t remember anything about what happened to him, the question arises as to why the film sill filled that time at all. Why not just start at this point. It would have made it more interesting for the viewer.
There is a moment in the film that seems interesting, but it quickly heads back towards being a clumsy blockbuster. “Bloodshot” is an action film that will be easily forgotten.

Rating: 2/ 5

TV Show Review - Outlander (Season 1)

Season: 1
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Mystery/ Crime
Number of episodes: 16
Year: 2014
Starring: Catriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Duncan LaCroix, Tobias Menzies, Graham MacTavish, Laura Donnelly

Description: An English combat nurse (Catriona Balfe) from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.  

Review: Drama and adventure in the Scottish Highlands. I was immediately sold after episode 1. It’s beyond me why it took me so long to see this series, because its really, really good!
Claire lives in 1945 and is married to Frank Randall. She goes on her honeymoon to Scotland and there she suddenly ends up in 1743 where she experiences a great adventure.
Claire sees many differences. There is no electricity, no city and the medicines are different too. She has to adapt to the situation.
She meets Jamie, who she forms a bond with and eventually marries. Not because she wants to, but the two start loving each other along the way. Especially Jamie has to endure a lot this first season. He is much more than the handsome Scotsman. And Claire is also much more than the damsel in distress.
The combination of adventure, romance and beautiful images of Scotland are what I love most about “Outlander”. The series also has a great atmosphere, that really transports you to 1743 Scotland. It’s a beautiful series that I already love very much. I can’t wait to continue the journey.

00s Movie Review - School of Rock

Director: Richard Linklater
Genre: Comedy/ Family
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Miranda Cosgrove, Mike White, Sarah Silverman, Adam Pascal, Lucs Papaelias, Chris Stack, Lucas Babin, Jordan-Claire Green, Veronica Afflerback, Joey Gaydos Jr., Robert Tsai, Angelo Massagli, Kevin Alexander Clark

Description: After being kicker out of his rock band, Dewey Finn (Jack Black) becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.

Review: Dewey Finn has only one passion: music. His dream: to break through with his band. Unfortunately the band thinks otherwise, because they are completely tired of the selfish guitarist. And so Dewey gets kicked out of the band, totally broke now. Because he had hoped to win the first prize in the “Battle of the Bands” with his group. His friend Ned Schneebly, who he lives with, urges him to look for a job. When Dewey takes a call, meant for Ned, to fill in as a teacher at Horace Green Elementary School, he pretends to be Ned and takes the job. However, he doesn’t really feel like teaching. But that all changes when he sees what kind of musical capacities the children have. Dewey sees this as an opportunity to finally form a dream band, and thus starts a ‘secret project’: The rock band. The School of Rock is open!!!!
Writer Mike White had been wanting to write a film especially for Jack Black, whom he lives next to for three years. So it’s no surprise that this role is perfect for Black. In fact, he carries the entire film. Of course, there is plenty to laugh about, but his chemistry with the kids in the movie is surprisingly good as well.
Although “School of Rock” is not overly sweet, it’s a perfect feel-good-movie. And it’s a film for a broad audience, including kids. Surprising twists and turns are not to be expected, but “School of Rock” is just so much fun, that this never bothers me. And honestly, uncomplicated comedy for the whole family is sometimes really welcome.
“School of Rock” is a very fun comedy, in which you see a failed musician training a group of talented kids to become his band. I love this movie and I love Jack Black in it.

Rating: 4/ 5