Search
Search results

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) in Movies
Jul 11, 2019
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle totally delivers on exactly what the trailers sales it as. The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), Kevin Heart, Jack Black and the blue lady from Guardians of the Galaxy (Karen Gillan), thrown into hilarious hijinks and shenanigans.
The film sets up and explains the rules of the world of Jumanji, every step of the way. It does not take itself too serious. It realizes the audience is there to have a laugh and it surprisingly tells a coherent story. As a result, are able to enjoy ourselves through the spectacle, without questions or consequence…because hey, it’s a family fun movie after all and it is not trying to be anything else.
Each of the high school characters grow as they get an opportunity to walk in the shoes of someone that is the complete opposite of themselves. Whether it’s the “nerd” (Alex Wolff) gaining confidence by becoming the “physical specimen explorer with no weakness” (Dwayne Johnson), the “jock” (Ser’Darius Blain) becoming the “puny zoologist with no strengths” (Kevin Heart) and thus learning what it is like to be weak, the “self-centered popular girl stuck on her phone” (Madison Iseman) learning to judge less and like physical activity by becoming an “overweight middle aged man,” (Jack Black) and the “loner nerd girl” (Morgan Turner) gaining confidence in her womanhood by becoming the “hot girl,” (Karen Gillan). Each of these roles is acted well by both sets of actors, which helps create jokes, humorous experiences and makes them likeable.
Overall, Jumanji, Welcome to the Jungle delivers exactly what it is trying to be. Fun!
The film sets up and explains the rules of the world of Jumanji, every step of the way. It does not take itself too serious. It realizes the audience is there to have a laugh and it surprisingly tells a coherent story. As a result, are able to enjoy ourselves through the spectacle, without questions or consequence…because hey, it’s a family fun movie after all and it is not trying to be anything else.
Each of the high school characters grow as they get an opportunity to walk in the shoes of someone that is the complete opposite of themselves. Whether it’s the “nerd” (Alex Wolff) gaining confidence by becoming the “physical specimen explorer with no weakness” (Dwayne Johnson), the “jock” (Ser’Darius Blain) becoming the “puny zoologist with no strengths” (Kevin Heart) and thus learning what it is like to be weak, the “self-centered popular girl stuck on her phone” (Madison Iseman) learning to judge less and like physical activity by becoming an “overweight middle aged man,” (Jack Black) and the “loner nerd girl” (Morgan Turner) gaining confidence in her womanhood by becoming the “hot girl,” (Karen Gillan). Each of these roles is acted well by both sets of actors, which helps create jokes, humorous experiences and makes them likeable.
Overall, Jumanji, Welcome to the Jungle delivers exactly what it is trying to be. Fun!

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Pig (2021) in Movies
Nov 30, 2021
Nicolas Cage's placement within the zeitgeist is almost legendary at this point. His various unhinged performances over the decades have ensured that he's the go-to-guy for any movie with a whacky premise that needs a lead who will commit to the part, no matter how ludicrous. Pig is a film that has fallen a little foul of this. It's a film that had been mistakenly billed to me as "John Wick but with Nicolas Cage and a pig", a film that's very synopsis lends itself to the absurdity that surrounds Cage and his career.
The finished project however is an emotional and heartfelt triumph. For starters, the whole movie is shot beautifully with plenty of stunning cinematography on display. It verges into arthouse territory fairly regularly, but works hand in hand with the way the narrative chugs along, quite wonderfully.
The slower pace of proceedings is filled with great dialogue and great turns from the likes of Adam Arkin and the ever-reliable Alex Wolff, but make no mistake, Pig belongs to Cage 100%. His performance here is nothing short of fantastic. His character is layered, and aspects of him are slowly revealed as the story unfolds, and Cage delivers it all pretty flawlessly. No joke, probably his career highlight.
The tone is a rollercoaster, from optimism amongst sadness to flat out despair. The climactic scene in particular is an absolutly beautiful and emotional shit show, that lands perfectly thanks to its stellar cast.
Pig is a movie that I didn't expect to get me as much as it did. It's an incredibly competent, subtle, and well realised debut full-length feature from Michael Sarnoski, that I imagine will be criminally overlooked when awards season rolls around. Give Nicolas Cage an Oscar dammit!
The finished project however is an emotional and heartfelt triumph. For starters, the whole movie is shot beautifully with plenty of stunning cinematography on display. It verges into arthouse territory fairly regularly, but works hand in hand with the way the narrative chugs along, quite wonderfully.
The slower pace of proceedings is filled with great dialogue and great turns from the likes of Adam Arkin and the ever-reliable Alex Wolff, but make no mistake, Pig belongs to Cage 100%. His performance here is nothing short of fantastic. His character is layered, and aspects of him are slowly revealed as the story unfolds, and Cage delivers it all pretty flawlessly. No joke, probably his career highlight.
The tone is a rollercoaster, from optimism amongst sadness to flat out despair. The climactic scene in particular is an absolutly beautiful and emotional shit show, that lands perfectly thanks to its stellar cast.
Pig is a movie that I didn't expect to get me as much as it did. It's an incredibly competent, subtle, and well realised debut full-length feature from Michael Sarnoski, that I imagine will be criminally overlooked when awards season rolls around. Give Nicolas Cage an Oscar dammit!

Lenard (726 KP) rated Pig (2021) in Movies
Aug 1, 2021
One could look at the film as Nicolas Cage's "Ransom" ("Give me back my pig!"), "John Wick" (if the dog had survived the original attack), or "Taken" ("I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my pig go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you."). Ten years ago, Rob left the civilized world behind and chose an isolated life in the mountains, just him and his highly talented truffle pig. Once a week, twentysomething Alex Wolff comes to buy his "finds." That is the lone connection to humanity after tragedy left him broken. Then, in the middle of the night, a couple break in to steal the pig and leave him physically scarred. Rob must now return to the old life he left behind in order to get back his pig. Along for the ride is his young benefactor who has his own tragic backstory. Similar to "John Wick," there is a powerful puppetmaster behind all the tragedy. But that is where the similarities end as no one is a highly skilled assassin or underworld boss. Both Rob and his antagonist are just men with skills, connections, and money not guns and muscles. In fact, there is a running joke where people ask Rob if his face hurts or he needs medical attention for his wounds. This is a film for your heart and your mind to absorb starring two of the greatest shouters in Hollywood giving quiet performances. I highly recommend the film.

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Pig (2021) in Movies
Sep 30, 2021

BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Hereditary (2018) in Movies
Jun 28, 2018

Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) in Movies
Dec 15, 2019
