In the world of international crime, an Interpol agent attempts to hunt down and capture the world’s most wanted art thief.
I really wish I had a lot to say about Red Notice but I really don’t, the logic Netflix seemed to have with this movie was “as long as we cast three big names this movie will be great and the chemistry will work” that’s not the case here at all. While the performances aren’t necessarily bad the chemistry between Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson just doesn’t work here. It feels like they threw so many different ideas for a bunch of action movies and combined them into one terrible one, everything that is shown in Red Notice has been done far better in other movies. It’s one of the most cliched movies of the year, everything feels manufactured from the writing and action scenes it’s truly one of those blockbuster action movies that feels incredibly pointless and adds nothing new to the genre. Being 1 hour and 55 minutes long with incredibly terrible pacing that feels like a snail trying to run a marathon doesn’t help either. Give this one a pass!
Red Notice is now available on Netflix!
1/10 F
Neglected and unsupervised, a group of high school seniors find themselves pulled into a downward cycle of violence.
It honestly pains me to say that I didn’t like Runt considering this was Cameron Boyce who sadly passed away in 2019 last performance. Cameron Boyce does a very solid job in the role and really matches the type of mood the movie is going for. However the pacing is a complete and total mess and the movie has no idea what it wants to truly be, it starts out with a anti-bullying ad type vibe and then becomes a thriller. The rest of the cast is passable but they aren’t enough to save this movie from being a very below average thriller.
The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.
It took me a bit to think how I felt about Eternals mostly due to it feeling like a very weird mishmash of ideas that are either not fully developed, done poorly or done very well. I got excited for this one mostly due to Chloe Zhao being attached to the film as the director, after seeing her films and her previous film Nomadland which went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars. The results for what Chloe Zhao can do with an MCU film is very promising and something I would love to see…sadly we only get a bit of that here. For starters the film itself relies on the characters which is perfectly fine, the problem is a lot of them aren’t that well developed at all. I do want to make it clear that one of the movie’s biggest strengths is the diversity, as a lot of people have pointed out it is very refreshing to see and it’s very commendable. Of the cast that stood out Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani (although he sort of gets the short end of the stick towards the end), Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff Brian Tyree Henry and Harish Patel all did a pretty solid job in their roles given what they worked with. Unfortunately just isn’t there to support some of the characters, as much as I liked Angelina Jolie’s character Thena she is given development but for the most part she’s kind of reduced to the “strength of the team” element, Lauren Ridloff’s character Makkari I truly wish was given actual development perhaps maybe in the future MCU films, still she’s a fun character despite given very little development. Brian Tyree Henry’s character Phastos got a ton of development and he’s by far one of the best, there’s a lot to like about his character plus there’s some actual quite emotional moments with his character. Kumail Nanjiani’s character Kingo and Harish Patel I thought were actually some of the strongest parts of the film, the jokes the duo both tell are actually quite amusing as opposed to the other jokes in the movie that really hold the movie back. Barry Keoghan’s character Druig I thought was very interesting, I do wish they did a little bit more with his character but for what they did I thought it was decent. It will be very interesting to see what they do with him going forward. Lastly there’s Gemma Chan’s character Sersi who I really thought was your traditional main hero type character, it wasn’t anything bad just not anything special. Hands down the best part about Eternals is the filming, it’s absolutely gorgeous and is the best MCU film when it comes to filming. What kills Eternals is that it still feels like a product, it’s a shame because I remember a little bit after Nomadland won best picture I remember reading a few articles saying “Chloe Zhao will have creative freedom for Eternals” yet it only feels like she only got a little bit. There were quiet moments for the characters and actual meaningful conversations between them. However the plot being a complete mess, the villains being incredibly dull and a lot of the traditional Marvel humor that they like to shoehorn into the movie doesn’t feel like creative freedom at all. I truly think Eternals would have worked better as a series, it would give each of the characters a lot more time to develop, it’s very unfortunate with the way Eternals turned out. Because somewhere in this movie there is a good movie, it’s just unfortunately crammed in with a lot filler and missed ideas.
On a post-apocalyptic earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his creator’s beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship and what it means to be human.
Finch was a film that I wasn’t looking forward to that much, it always came off as one of those movies that the studio had no faith in so they just shove it on to a streaming service of their choice. However after watching Finch I can best describe it as the film that Chappie wanted to be. Finch takes a completely different approach from what Chappie did, for starters there isn’t any action which absolutely works here. Instead we get a slow but meaningful story set in a post apocalyptic world and we follow three characters! Finch Weinberg (played by Tom Hanks) Goodyear the dog and Jeff a humanoid robot voiced by (Caleb Landry Jones) all 3 of these characters each bring something to the film. Tom Hanks delivers such a charming performance despite the film taking place in a post apocalyptic world, Caleb Landry Jones does a fantastic job voicing Jeff it’s quite honestly one of the best robot voice roles I’ve seen in a film in quite awhile! The film itself actually gets pretty meaningful and has a lot to say about many different types of subjects, such as love, friendship and the meaning of human life. The film does quite a fascinating job of comparing and contrasting the three man characters, Finch being a human, Goodyear being a dog and Jeff being a robot. It really shows how each of the characters interact and show their emotions, plus the film has a ton of quiet moments that really make you sink in the several different comparisons the film shows. It’s truly a fascinating film that explains in a meaningful way through very thought provoking writing! Overall Finch is something I would have never thought would end up being on the best films of the year, but I absolutely love surprises and this one most definitely is! Give this one a watch!
A struggling street musician finds himself the target of an animal welfare investigation that threatens to take away his beloved cat at Christmas.
A Christmas Gift From Bob is the sequel to the 2016 film A Street Cat Named Bob which was one of my favorite films from 2016 and was overall one of my favorite films of the 2010s. A Christmas Gift From Bob is a very traditional good defeating evil type Christmas story but what the movie uses to it’s advantage is Luke Treadaway as James Bowen and Bob The Cat himself (who sadly passed away last year) relationship and portraying it very well. A Street Cat Named Bob showed just how much Bob changed James Bowen’s life, while A Christmas Gift From Bob does have a lot of Christmas movie elements, we still get more to the story of James and Bob. How they look out for each other, the acting and writing are both surprisingly well done. There are hiccups during the first act of the movie and it strangely took a bit to get going, but when you get passed the first act the movie is very charming, meaningful and heartwarming. It’s a celebration for James and Bob! While A Christmas Gift From Bob might not be as good as it’s predecessor its still a very charming and heartwarming movie that I do highly recommend.
R.I.P. Bob
A Christmas Gift From Bob is now available on all VOD Platforms!
An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s, where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer. However, the glamour is not all it appears to be, and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.
Last Night In Soho was by far my most anticipated film of 2021, it had everything that you would want Edgar Wright directing a full on horror film, with Anya Taylor-Joy in the mix. Luckily Last Night In Soho was worth the wait because Edgar Wright made something truly special. The performances are quite fantastic Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor Joy preform beautifully together, both give very raw performances that truly show talented they both are. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful, it takes advantage of the location and makes a ton of beautiful stylistic choices, it’s also one of the most visually haunting films of the year. Last Night In Soho is a haunting film that uses very creepy visuals and a haunting atmosphere to give chills down the viewers spine. The music very creatively used, Anya Taylor-Joy’s version of Downtown is truly beautiful her voice perfectly fits the 60s vibe the film is going for. Speaking of which Last Night In Soho is a beautifully haunting love letter to the 60s that says nostalgia is a killer and can be quite disturbing. Finally there’s Edgar Wright’s direction which is truly fantastic, he takes the horror genre and does something completely different and masterful with it, Edgar Wright also knows how to make a film disturbing without relying on a bunch of gore, it’s mostly all in the atmosphere combined with the music that is addicting and hypnotic. Overall Last Night In Soho is the definition of an incredible film, it’s most definitely not going to be for everyone but if it sounds interesting to you I highly recommend giving this one a watch! Fantastic filmmaking at it’s finest!
When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge.
I’m not normally huge on Westerns but I really have to say The Harder They Fall takes the western genre and does something completely different with it. The Harder They Fall is mostly for the fantastic cast and rightfully so, because everyone involved does such a fantastic job with the roles they are given. Each of the cast brought something to the film Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, Regina King, Zazie Beetz, LaKeith Stanfield and Delroy Lindo in particularly are very strong and show a range of emotions. The filming combined with the editing is absolutely beautiful, this is one of the things The Harder They Fall does differently than a lot of westerns…it’s fast paced as well as being stylish. It has a unique style to it that gives the film a ton of energy, a lot of westerns tend to be very slow but that’s not the case here. The Harder They Fall is also 2 hours and 19 minutes long but does not feel like that at all, mostly due to how interesting the story is combined with the editing that makes it go by quickly, overall The Harder They Fall is a excellent film, I highly recommend giving this one a go!
A married Hollywood agent receives a mysterious letter for an anonymous sexual encounter and becomes ensnared in a sinister world of lying, murder and infidelity.
Jim Cummings once again shows how much fun he has while directing and acting with his films. The Beta Test is a very interesting little movie that criticizes Hollywood agents and it definitely delivers quite well, first off Jim Cummings absolutely steals the show in the leading role. His performance is energetic and quite hilarious as well, the movie itself is a very interesting blend of humor, suspense and drama each of which compliment each other quite well and build every scene. What makes this movie stronger is Jim Cummings’s style, he takes his traditional style that’s in a lot of his films also with the help of PJ McCabe who’s also in the movie, they both create something different from what Cummings’s usually does and it 100% works. A very strong social commentary that actually does bring something new to the conversation, go into this one knowing as little as possible!
After meeting her perfect match on a dating app, an L.A. writer learns she’s been catfished when she flies 3,000 miles to surprise him for Christmas.
Netflix and Christmas movies aren’t a good match, with the exception of a few (Klaus was fantastic and The Dolly Parton one was a lot of fun) but I really have to say Love Hard is actually quite decent. Is it predictable and filled to the brim of cliches? Oh absolutely but that doesn’t stop the movie from being enjoyable and the characters actually being likable, Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Young did a really solid job in their roles, there’s even a few jokes in the movie that actually land pretty well. The rest of the cast does pretty well Harry Shum Jr. looks like he’s having a blast while being in this movie, the music is also pretty great as well! As I said Love Hard does have a lot of cliches and it ends exactly how you think it’s going to, however what separates this movie from most of the other Netflix Christmas movies is that it’s at least entertaining, where as a lot of the others are uninteresting and feel like they should be on the Hallmark channel rather than Netflix (although Love Hard does feel like a Hallmark movie at times) overall Love Hard is fun, if you know what your getting into give this one a watch!
While diving in a remote French lake, two YouTubers who specialize in underwater exploration videos discover a house submerged in deep waters. Their dive turns into a nightmare when they discover the house was the scene of atrocious crimes.
The Deep House is a prime example of what happens when you have a very interesting premise and somehow fail to make it interesting. I was mostly interested in this movie due to the two directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury who both directed Inside (2007) one of my favorite films of all time, since then however the other movies they have directed have not been good. However when Kandisha came out earlier this year it gave me some hope that they are back on track, Kandisha wasn’t great but it was at least decent. The Deep House however is sadly another step back, the biggest problem with this movie is largely the script. If you saw 47 Meters Down or the sequel picture it without sharks and instead haunted house elements and have the actors continuously say “oh my god, we have to get out of here!” over and over again and that’s basically The Deep House. The filming is also a mess as well, there are times where it’s hard to make out what’s going on. The only thing I can give this movie is a few moments where you can actually see what’s going on, at those points the movie is actually decent to look at. But that is just so far and few in between it’s not even worth it at one point, The Deep House plays out exactly how you think it’s going to. It’s unfortunate because a underwater haunted house does sound like a good idea, give this one a pass
A mysterious woman recruits bank teller Dieter to assist in a heist of impossible-to-crack safes across Europe.
Army Of Thieves is a prequel to Army Of The Dead which came out earlier this year, however Army Of Thieves and Army Of The Dead are two completely different films so going into Army Of Thieves expecting a ton of zombies is setting yourself up for disappointing. Army Of Thieves is the backstory of Matthias Schweighöfer’s character Dieter who was one of the strongest parts of Army Of The Dead and he’s just as strong here! Schweighöfer gives a fantastic performance and makes Army Of Thieves into a really enjoyable ride. The same can be said for Nathalie Emmanuel she gives a fantastic performance that delivers, the filming and editing I have to say I was pretty surprised by how clean and polished it was. It had a nice sense of style to it that fit the whole heist genre, which makes the 2 hours and 7 minutes running time go by very quickly. Army Of Thieves is luckily one of those movies where you don’t feel the running time which is thanks to the editing, fast pacing and the interesting heist film like style as I said before. The script does have a few hiccups at times and there are the predictable moments, but that isn’t enough to stop this movie from being a very strong prequel to Army Of The Dead. It ties everything nicely has a very nice build up to Army Of The Dead, overall Army Of Thieves is an incredibly solid film that manages to be just as good and just as entertaining as Army Of The Dead even if the two films are completely different!
Jerome Reviews... 