Netflix Friday - Volume 16

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

Action: Kick-Ass (2010)
Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

Drama: Rescue Dawn (2006)
A U.S. fighter pilot’s (Christian Bale) epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam war.

Comedy: Hail, Caesar! (2016)
A Hollywood fixer (Josh Brolin) in the 1950s works to keep the studio’s star in line.

Animation: Whisper of the Heart (1995)
A love story between a girl (Brittany Snow) who lives reading books, and a boy (David Gallagher) who has previously hjecked out all the library books she chooses.

Romance: The Age of Adeline (2015)
A young woman (Blake Lively), born at the turn of the 20th century, is rendered ageless after an accident. After many solitary years, she meets a man (Michiel Huisman) who complicated the eternal life she has settled into.

Horror: Child’s Play (2019)
A mother (Aubrey Plaza) gives her 13-year-old son a toy doll for his birthday, unaware of its more sinister nature.

Science Fiction: Divergent (2014)
In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris (Shailene Woodley) learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in. when she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four (Theo James) must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late.

Crime: The Bourne Identity (2002)
A man (Matt Damon) is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.

Thriller: Panic Room (2002)
A divorced woman (Jodie Foster) and her diabetic daughter (Kristen Stewart) take refuge in their newly-purchased house’s safe room, when three men break-in, searching for a missing fortune.

Documentary: Audrie & Daisy (2016)
A look at the effects that online bullying has on the lives of teenagers and their community.

Family: The Cat Returns (2002)
After helping a cat, a seventeen-year-old girl (Anna Hathaway) finds herself involuntarily engaged to a cat Prince in a magical world where her only hope of freedom lies with a dapper cat statuette (Carey Elwes) coming to life.

Best Shark Movies Since "Jaws"

It’s shark week and I always love watching these fierce creatures. And I also have a thing for shark movies, I don’t care if they are bad or not. It’s always a fun and entertaining time for me. With “Jaws” still being the best shark movie that we have, I decided to create a list of good shark movies that came out after “Jaws”.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)
In this disaster movie, scientists mess with the brains of sharks and soon the animals are smarter than most people. Director Renny Harlin can provide old-fashioned solid action like no other. “Deep Blue Sea” has a great guest role for Samuel L. Jackson, who provided us with one of the biggest jump scares (which also was a bit hilarious). It’s one of the better shark movies since “Jaws”

Shark Tale (2004)
Yes, even kids can watch a shark movie, since this is a animated family film. Oscar is a fish who works at a ‘whale wash’. He’s thinking of getting higher up and along the way he meets some sharks, led by godfather Don Lino. His son Lenny turns out to the an introvert shark, an a vegetarian to top it off. This was Dreamwork’s answer to Disney’s “Finding Nemo”, but they didn’t succeed. “Shark Tale” is filled with references and jokes and it’s a fun family film. But don’t expect depth (no pun intended)

The Reef (2010)
For three British backpackers their dream seems to come true; they spend a week at the most beautiful coral reef in the world with their own yacht. However, when their boat turns over and they are left to their fate on the tilted yacht, this dream turns into a real nightmare. When they decide to swim for the shore, they realize a shark is waiting for them. It’s not the most eventful film on this list, since it only becomes exciting towards the end. But still a pretty fun watch.

Open Water (2014)
Seventy divers jump into the water, sixty-eight return and hour later. No complicated calculations for the diving instructor, but in a moment of confusion a small miscalculation follows and two divers are left behind. Susan and Daniel. While among them the normally harmless fish become more curious, despair takes hold of them. Especially when among those fish are also sharks. A movie without fuss or special effects and very low-budget. But this film plays with the feeling of what if it would happen to you.

The Shallows (2016)
Nancy goes surfing on a secret, remote spot in Mexico after her mothers death. When she is attacked by a shark, she manages to swim to a rock and climb onto it. She finds safety there for a while, when it’s low tide. But the water is rising and her time is running out. I find this the best shark movie since “Jaws”, even though some things are a bit improbable. It’s a really good film.

47 Meters Down (2017)
Two sisters decide to go cage diving, to watch sharks during a tropical holiday. When the cable breaks and the cage descends to 47 meters, the horror begins for the girls. It is pretty fun to watch.

The Meg (2018)
When a submarine is attacked by a huge creature previously considered extinct, the submarine lies helplessly at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. When time begins to run out, expert deep-sea diver Jonas Taylor is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer. The meg from the title refers to a megalodon, a prehistorical shark, being many times bigger then a great white shark. Don’t take this film too seriously and you will have an awesome time. This film is highly entertaining and so much fun. Especially during those hot summer months.

Bad shark movies, but a lot of fun

Jaws 4: The Revenge (1987)
“Jaws” spawned three sequels, with the last one being the absolute worst. And “Jaws 4: The Revenge” is all sorts of bad. Because it was actually made with the intention of being a serious shark movie. And because this film takes itself way too serious, makes it such a bad movie. Just look at the synopsis alone: Ellen Brody (wife of chief Brody from film 1) is now widowed. When her son is killed by a shark, she suspects that the shark hates her whole family. She flees to the Bahamas, where her other son works as a marine biologist and the shark follows her (!). The end of this film is one of the most ridiculous sequences in the history of cinema. The only credit I can give them is for managing to get Michael Caine. I would really want to know his opinion now, haha. This is one of those movies, that is unintentionally hilarious.

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus (2009)
Lorenzo Lamas, who we know as the tough, long-haired biker from the TV-series “Renegade’, is a scientist who has to compete against the prehistoric creatures from the title. The best scenes contains a shark jumping from the water to snatch a plane from the sky. Yes, that happens. This is so bad, but I love these hilarious monster movies. And there is also “Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus”, “Mega vs. Mecha Shark” and “Mega Shark vs. Kolossus”. Too bad, but great if you’re in for some laughs.

Shark Night 3D (2011)
If you watch shark week, you might know that sharks sometimes trade the ocean for a river. But no one expects them in a lake. Behold the set-up for “Shark Night 3D”. It’s actually a slasher film, focusing on a group of American youngsters partying, who are seriously harassed by all kinds of sharks in a freshwater lake. This film some poor effects, but it’s the best of the worst.

Sharknado (2013)
They decided to combine shark attacks, major floods and raging tornadoes for this insane shark movie. Sharks are striking inland thanks to propelling water and/ or wind. “Sharknado” sheds light on this rare phenomenon. It’s really terrible and it even brought us 5 (!) sequels, but you should really see it.

90s Movie Review - Fierce Creatures

Director: Fred Schepisi, Robert Young
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 93 minutes
Year: 1997
Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay, Ronnie Corbett, Carey Lowell, Bille Brown, Cynthia Cleese

Description: Zookeepers struggle to deal with the polices of changing directors.

Review: A British zoo bought by a billionaire who has the policy to put as much pressure on everyone as possible so that it will make a profit. Willa and Vince, two employees of this American multi-billionaire, are sent to the old-fashioned zoo where Rollo Lee is the director. At the next inspection the company has to make a 20% profit.
The first idea Rollo has is to remove all the cute animals from the zoo and only show life-threatening animals (fierce creatures, hence the title) because this is more spectacular and appealing to the visitors. When Willa and Vince arrive, they decide to intervene. They use different strategies to make the zoo more profitable. For instance telling people that the turtle belongs to Bruce Springsteen, place colorful billboards at every corner and make all the zookeepers wear silly animal costumes.
One absurd event after another is of course the result. When the billionaire Rob McCain himself comes to visit, things really get out of hand. “Fierce Creatures” is a very silly comedy that did make me laugh. It brings together the same four actors that starred in “A Fish Called Wanda”, them being of course John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. That was very obviously a much better movie, but this is also a comedy that I enjoyed and is an easy watch. Not as high of quality, but enough for an entertaining evening.

Rating: 3/ 5

10s Movie Review - Suburbicon

Director: George Clooney
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac, Noah Jupe, Glenn Flesgler, Alex Hassell, Gary Basaraba, Jack Conley

Description: As a 1950s suburban self-destructs, a home invasion has sinister consequences for one seemingly normal family.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 33: A MOVIE SUGGESTED BY A CO-WORKER

Review: “Suburbicon” took a long way before being released. A first version of the satirical dark crime comedy was already put on paper in 1986 by the Coen brothers, who had just finished their excellent debut “Blood Simple”. Yet the script ended up on hold for a long way. Over the years the brothers occasionally played with the idea of picking up the film again, but in the end it was George Clooney who ended up directing it. The only condition was that Clooney and his regular scriptwriter Grant Heslov were also allowed to bring their own additions to the story. Unfortunately, they didn’t succeed as well.
“Suburbicon” ‘s original starting point begins with a sudden domestic invasion of a seemingly neat American suburb in the 1950s. two robbers hold an average civilian family, consisting of a father, mother, young son and aunt hostage, with a fatal outcome as a result. This is the starting shot for a typical mix of pitch-black comedy and suspense that the Coen brothers have initiated.
It is a pleasant side effect that Clooney, as an actor, has already gained the necessary experience in working with the Coen brothers, and knows how to measure their style without too much effort. This is particularly evident in the dry comedy of the protagonists, from Matt Damon as the controlling housefather Gardner Lodge to a double role by Julianne Moore as an apparently ideal housewife. Cinematographer Robert Elswit also does an excellent job visually, with the old-fashioned film noir elements such as playing with shadows being particularly fun.
So far so good. But it turns out to be only half of the total package. Clooney and Heslov combined the original script of “Suburbicon” with another script they happened to be working on: a story of the African-Amercian Mayers family, who become victims of an incessant series of racist harassment of their white co-inhabitants in the fifties. Initially, this invites them to jokes. The opening scene, for instance, is set up as a typical American commercial for the idyllic suburbs of the time, with a postman whistling his way through a sunny neighborhood full of cheerfully playing children. when he rings the doorbell of the new residents, and the colored Mrs. Mayers opens the door indicating that she is not the servant, but the lady of the house.
That starts with amazement, however, soon ends in much greater wrongs: from constantly making noise or chanting nationalist songs to make the family feel unwanted, to refusing customers in the local supermarket. Mrs. Mayers doesn’t let herself be affected by it and doesn’t give a damn. However, this is where it starts to wring. This story doesn’t quite seem to fit in with the gloomy tone of the rest of Clooney’s film, and moreover, it doesn’t get the full attention with which it should be told. The Mayers family gets little depth and their storyline doesn’t seem to be working towards anything: we’re simply constantly aware in the background of how the family is constantly being taunted, belittled and discriminated against, while they do their utmost to ignore it all.
The idea of combining these two stories is in itself still somewhat understandable. Clooney expresses his direct criticism of the advanced American upper class, who are all too happy to point their finger at population groups with a different skin color as the cause of everything that is wrong with society. But at the same time are blind to all the problems in their own social circle. With the fact that, as a result of all the fuss about the Mayer family in the neighborhood, literally one house over, a completely derailed murder mystery goes unnoticed. The perfect, quiet, and above all family friendly suburb as the residents like to sketch is just a thin layer of appearances over a very dark cesspool of misery.
The social criticism that Clooney wants to address can itself not be faulted. Unfortunately racism remains a sensitive subject to deal with, which turns out to be somewhat unfortunate in this film. Not that humor and satire are by definition the wrong means for this theme, but they should be used in the right way. In the case of “Suburbicon”, the tone of the murder mystery does not match that of the Mayers family. Surely it remains clear that both storylines were only thrown together at a later stage, and suffer from each other’s presence.
“Suburbicon” is by no means a terrible movie. But throwing those two stories together made this movie not as good as it could’ve been.

Rating: 2, 5/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Cat Returns

Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Genre: Animation/ Family/ Drama/ Fantasy
Runtime: 75 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Judy Greer, Kristen Bell, Peter Boyle, Elliot Gould, Tim Curry

Description: After helping a cat, the seventeen-year-old Haru (Anne Hathaway) finds herself involuntarily engaged to a cat Prince in a magical world where her only hope of freedom lies with a dapper cat statuette (Cary Elwes) coming to life.

Review: “The Cat Returns” is one of Studio Ghibli’s lesser known films, but it is on that the real cat lovers should not skip. And it contains a lot of magic.
Don’t you ever wonder where those cats wander off to, when to go out? Well, in “The Cat Returns” it’s a secret cat kingdom, hidden behind some narrow alleys. Studio Ghibli plays with this idea, very skillfully. Th concept was conceived by Hayao Miyazako himself, but directed by Hiroyuki Morita, who worked on several other anime and Studio Ghibli films as animator.
Haru’s life is not that different from any other teenage girl. She’s regularly late for school and has a crush on one of the classmates, who unfortunately already has a girlfriend. Haru would like her life to have a little more happiness, since everything seems to go well for others but not for her.
Everything changes after she saves a cat. The cat walks on two legs and talks to her, but of course no one believes her. As if that’s not strange enough, a cat parade appears in front of her door at night. The king of the cat kingdom has come in person to thank her for saving his son, the cat prince. The gift that the cat king has brough is also quite strange… she has to marry the prince!
“The Cat Returns” is a witty film which features The Baron, who we met in “Whisper of the Heart”. This character is the star of the film. It’s a fun, magical and adventurous story that will be perfect for the entire family. Visually is looks good and the soundtrack is atmospheric and fitting. It’s not one of Studio Ghibli’s best film, but certainly one to check out.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

90s Movie Review - Whisper of the Heart

Director: Yoshifumi Kondô
Genre: Animation/ Family/ Drama
Runtime: 111 minutes
Year: 1995
Starring: Brittany Snow, David Gallagher, Jean Smart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Ashley Tisdale, Martin Spanjers, Cary Elwes, A.J. Buckley

Description: A love story between a girl who loves reading books (Brittany Snow), and a boy (David Gallagher) who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.

Review: “Whisper of the Heart” is about a young girl, Shizuku. If there is one thing Shizuku likes to do, it’s read. She works through all kinds of books at a very past pace and in the local library she can be found most of the time. When she borrows a large pile of books again, Shizuku notices that in each book there is a certain name of a young man who borrowed the book before her. A certain Seiji Amasawa. She wants to meet him and a great friendship develops between them. She doesn’t only get to know Seiji better, but also herself. In this way she finds out what she want to do in her life and starts writing her first story.
“Whisper of the Heart” is a very strong film. The whole coming-of-age setting, in which kids try to chase their dreams at an early age, really fits here. The film has some rally great moments, for example the moment where Shizuku and Seiji are performing the song Country Roads together and they are suddenly accompanied by Seiji’s grandfather and friends with instruments. And scenes like Shizuku following the cat, her finding the shop with the magic clock and Shizuku’s fantasy world are all straight from a picture book.
“Whisper of the Heart” was the first theatrically released Studio Ghibli film not to be directed by the master Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli always masterfully created these amazing looking animated family films, with a very mature feel to it. They never talk down to children and that’s what I love about them so much.

Rating: 4 / 5

Best Jump Scares in Movies

I love horror movies. Not that it makes me sleep any better, because I don’t. And I’m a person that scares easily. It’s often the silent moments that you don’t really see what’s scaring you, that make a film scary. And then there is those jump scares. Some movies overuse them and that I don’t like. But there are many movies, horror and non-horror films, that used them so well. Often at moments you’d least expect them to happen. And that’s when a jump scare is most effective. I created this list of great jump scares in movies.

Shark attack – Deep Blue Sea (1999)
In a movie about killer sharks, there will most obviously be some shark attacks. But I think we all know which shark attack I mean here. While giving a somewhat epic speech to his fellow survivors, and being warned about standing to close to the water hole, Samuel L. Jackson is being attacked and eaten alive. The most surprising kill, since he was the biggest name in the cast, but also a pretty hilarious and over-the-top kill.

The tongue click – Hereditary (2018)
When you watch a film with the sound of, you know exactly how a jump scare works. It’s a key component. Most often very loud noises. And if you watch “Hereditary” ’s big scare with the sound off, it’ll seem like nothing is happening. The scenes shows Annie in her car, when she suddenly here’s tongue clucking coming from the backseat. And still it seems like nothing, just wait when you see the actual scene. One of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen.

Face of fire - Insidious (2011)
A fine example of misdirection. The scene begins with Barbara Hershey’s character describing a nightmare. Snapping back to the real world, Patrick Wilson’s Josh sits unaware as the red-faced demon appears behind him. Did not see that coming.

Night vision – The Descent (2006)
Who thought spelunking was a good idea? It seems exciting, but not if you’re claustrophobic. If you’re not that, this trip still wasn’t a good idea, since there are strange, creepy, night creatures living there. And we see one earlier in the movie, from afar. But that’s not as scary as the scene where one of the girls turns on night vison mode on her camera. As a viewer you are emotionally invested in the arguments going on and trying to follow the camera, with already obscures by night vision. It swings from person to person. When it swings back to find a creature standing behind Rebecca and we were completely unprepared.

Hand claps – The Conjuring (2013)
Like “Hereditary”, this is a movie that doesn’t overuse jump scares or loud noises when it comes to them. And it’s also one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. And this scene in particular scared the bejesus out of me. In this scene, the scariest moment in the film plays us brilliantly. There is the slow lure down the staircase, the bouncing basketball, the exploding lightbulb, and then a moment of silence before the out-of-nowhere hands reach in for a quick clap-clap. Ugh, even writing about gives me the chills.

Need a bigger boat – Jaws (1975)
The movie’s biggest strength is hardly ever showing the shark we all know there is. I think we’re about 45 minutes into the movie when we catch a glimpse of the shark. But it’s the moment when the three men are on the Orca and Chief Brody is throwing chum into the ocean. His face is away from the water and all of a sudden the shark pops out from it. We feel what’s Brody’s feeling: fear!

Bilbo’s scary face – Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Where did this come from? It’s Frodo and his uncle Bilbo having a nice heart to heart. But when Bilbo sees the One Ring around Frodo’s neck, he loses it for a second and tries to grab it. Super scary and a non-expecting scare.

The man behind the wall – Mulholland Drive (2001)
Two men are sitting in a diner, when one of them, Dan, shares this terrifying dream he’s been having. About a man behind a wall, just outside the diner. He decides to go and see it for himself and we all think, it’s just a dream. But suddenly, that man appears from behind that wall. Our hearts stopped!

Home video – Signs (2002)
When Joaquin Phoenix’ Merril is watching a news feed on the TV, I didn’t expect to have one of the biggest jumps scares ever. Merril is sitting inside a small closet while watching a news report, about a home video that was send to them. We see a group of kids at what seems to be a birthday party, they’re screaming, but we don’t know what for. Then the camera, a bit blurry, goes to a little alley and we see an alien walk by. Merril’s reaction is exactly ours: shocked!

The coughing man - Se7en (1995)
After already being exposed to gross crime scenes, we haven’t seen the worst yet. Detectives David Mills and William Somerset approach the set for the sin ‘sloth’. A scene covered with air fresheners you would normally hang in your car, presents us to a corpse that was seemingly chained to the bed and starved to death. When one of the agents approaches the body, it all of a sudden starts coughing. He isn’t dead after all.

The ‘mother’ - Psycho (1960)
It’s old school but it has stuck with me for so many years. It is so creepy when it’s found out that the actual mother died and is sitting as a skeleton in her chair and Norman Bates’ ‘mother’ appears and starts screaming. I still think about it sometimes when I’m in my basement.

Jason in the lake - Friday the 13th (1980)
People are mistaken when they think Jason Voorhees was the killer in “Friday the 13th”. It was his mother Pamela Voorhees. But at the end of “Friday the 13th” we catch a glimpse of Jason, when final girl Alice is sitting in a boat on the lake, when suddenly Jason jumps out of the water and grabs her.

Kitchen cabinets – Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
The first film already scared the sh** out of me, this sequel had one scene that I just can’t get over. When Kristi is sitting in her kitchen, just out of nowhere all the kitchen cabinet’s open. I think, if I ever watch it again, I will fast forward this scene.

The clown – Poltergeist (1982)
Clowns freak me out anyway, so whenever it’s in a horror movie it adds up to the anxiety I’m already feeling. And just when you think the clown is under the bed, the son’s gets back up only to find out it’s right behind him. Gets me every single time.

The demon – The Exorcist (1973)
While “The Exorcist” is overall a super scary and unsettling movie, it doesn’t contain many jump scares. But there is one brief moment, that made me jump up from my seat. In a blink-and-you-will-miss-it moment, Regan briefly sees the true face of the demon and it scared the hell out of me.

The white figure – The Exorcist III (1990)
When the original film didn’t have many jump scares, the third installment in the franchise had the biggest of them all. One of those unexpected moments, where the situation seems not so special. Out of nowhere, with no lead or build-up in tension or sound, a white figures chases a nurse with an ice pick. We don’t see the nurse actually being killed, but this moment really gave me the chills.