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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Jun 20, 2020
Tarantino makes good movies, I like them, but I don't love them. When everyone was raving about the OUATIH trailer I was sitting back going "that looks okay, but..." I wasn't sure I could see how they were going to mix the two strands of the story together, or why. After seeing it I'm still not sure.
I'm not going to do an extended synopsis for this, partly because I'm not sure what the point was to a lot of it. 2 hours and 41 minutes is a lot of time to fill with such random stuff. There are essentially to films here, and I definitely would have wanted to watch one of them. It doesn't matter how many times I think about this film, I can't make sense of why these stories were put together.
There's a lot of acting talent in this, obviously. I'm not a particular fan of DiCaprio, I can't give you a real reason behind that. I don't mind some of his older films but recently nothing has really caught my eye. He has some excellent moments in this though. I particularly liked the scene where he's on set explaining the story of his novel to his young co-star. The audience and Rick are able to reach the realisation at the same time, it's a moving moment that was annoyingly ruined for me by Trudi's lines afterwards. I guess it does reflect the way Hollywood is though so in that respect it was spot on.
Brad Pitt swooped in and stole the show though. There's a very laid back and sometimes cheeky sense to Cliff, and most of his scenes had me engaged with what was going on. The only thing I would say though is that occasionally you just see Brad Pitt and other characters he's portrayed in this performance. He really does have a strong presence though and apart from those small blips he was by far the best performance of the film and my favourite scenes were his fight with Bruce Lee and the last ten minutes. Both of these were done so well and Pitt's reactions were perfect.
The cast has a lot of bit parters in it, I'm never quite sure what gets something classed as a cameo over a "proper" role. As we're in Hollywood there are obviously a lot of Hollywood stars making appearances and they've all got really strong casting behind them, but they barely get any screen time. We get some Sharon Tate background from Steve McQueen (Damien Lewis) at a party, later on we have Bruce Lee appear for the onset fight scene, there are a lot of faces popping up everywhere.
I briefly want to mention Bruce Lee in this film, since seeing the film I read a couple of pieces about his portrayal in this... I know nothing about him as a person beyond his martial arts skills and while I did find the Lee/Booth fight scene amusing I thought it was a little... off? Lee comes across as a bit of an arse, there's no denying that. Like I said, I know nothing about him, this could be a true depiction but I feel like I would have heard that before if he was. Regardless of the truth, the character didn't come across well, he could easily have been given a slightly cocky demeanour to allow for the challenge to happen without giving him that persona.
I haven't got enough time to talk about every actor in the film but there wasn't anyone who stuck out as being bad, every role was handled reasonably well. Whether they all needed to be there though is another matter.
Earlier I mentioned that the film has two story threads, those being Rick Dalton/Cliff Booth and Sharon Tate. We get the odd crossover moment with the two but ultimately there's no proper link until the end. One of the problems going into the film is that if you don't know anything about Sharon Tate and Charles Manson then one of these storylines isn't going to make a great deal of sense. I'd be interested to see how people going in without that knowledge found the story overall, there have to be some out there right?
OUATIH almost seems like an introduction to Manson being in Mindhunter season 2, you've even got potential crossover as he's played by the same guy. I found the Manson inclusion to be very misleading in the advertising. His appearance is beyond brief in the final cut and it felt like we were due a lot more after watching the trailer. I think I would have preferred the movie if it was weighted the other way with the Tate/Manson side as the focus and the Dalton/Booth side at the add on.
Despite Pitt's performance, the great setting and some other small highlight this film just didn't hit the right notes for me. It was so long, I could have forgiven that had there been a more complex link between the two bits of story. I went in with low expectations and when I came out those were only just met.
If you're considering leaving partway through this there are three reasons that you should stick it out.
- Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth
- Booth's dog
- The last ten minutes (give or take)
The 18 certificate is there for "strong bloody violence", somehow the large amount of drug use doesn't warrant inclusion on the card. Up until around the 2 hour 30 minutes mark this film is a 15. You've had drugs, language and some fights, but nothing that matches up to those last few minutes. They earn that 18 certificate... and it's hilarious. Cliff and his dog are epic and it was worth the rest of the film just to see that, there's some terrible (ridiculous) acting in it that potentially it could have done without but at least I came out slightly less annoyed.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/08/once-upon-time-in-hollywood-movie-review.html
I'm not going to do an extended synopsis for this, partly because I'm not sure what the point was to a lot of it. 2 hours and 41 minutes is a lot of time to fill with such random stuff. There are essentially to films here, and I definitely would have wanted to watch one of them. It doesn't matter how many times I think about this film, I can't make sense of why these stories were put together.
There's a lot of acting talent in this, obviously. I'm not a particular fan of DiCaprio, I can't give you a real reason behind that. I don't mind some of his older films but recently nothing has really caught my eye. He has some excellent moments in this though. I particularly liked the scene where he's on set explaining the story of his novel to his young co-star. The audience and Rick are able to reach the realisation at the same time, it's a moving moment that was annoyingly ruined for me by Trudi's lines afterwards. I guess it does reflect the way Hollywood is though so in that respect it was spot on.
Brad Pitt swooped in and stole the show though. There's a very laid back and sometimes cheeky sense to Cliff, and most of his scenes had me engaged with what was going on. The only thing I would say though is that occasionally you just see Brad Pitt and other characters he's portrayed in this performance. He really does have a strong presence though and apart from those small blips he was by far the best performance of the film and my favourite scenes were his fight with Bruce Lee and the last ten minutes. Both of these were done so well and Pitt's reactions were perfect.
The cast has a lot of bit parters in it, I'm never quite sure what gets something classed as a cameo over a "proper" role. As we're in Hollywood there are obviously a lot of Hollywood stars making appearances and they've all got really strong casting behind them, but they barely get any screen time. We get some Sharon Tate background from Steve McQueen (Damien Lewis) at a party, later on we have Bruce Lee appear for the onset fight scene, there are a lot of faces popping up everywhere.
I briefly want to mention Bruce Lee in this film, since seeing the film I read a couple of pieces about his portrayal in this... I know nothing about him as a person beyond his martial arts skills and while I did find the Lee/Booth fight scene amusing I thought it was a little... off? Lee comes across as a bit of an arse, there's no denying that. Like I said, I know nothing about him, this could be a true depiction but I feel like I would have heard that before if he was. Regardless of the truth, the character didn't come across well, he could easily have been given a slightly cocky demeanour to allow for the challenge to happen without giving him that persona.
I haven't got enough time to talk about every actor in the film but there wasn't anyone who stuck out as being bad, every role was handled reasonably well. Whether they all needed to be there though is another matter.
Earlier I mentioned that the film has two story threads, those being Rick Dalton/Cliff Booth and Sharon Tate. We get the odd crossover moment with the two but ultimately there's no proper link until the end. One of the problems going into the film is that if you don't know anything about Sharon Tate and Charles Manson then one of these storylines isn't going to make a great deal of sense. I'd be interested to see how people going in without that knowledge found the story overall, there have to be some out there right?
OUATIH almost seems like an introduction to Manson being in Mindhunter season 2, you've even got potential crossover as he's played by the same guy. I found the Manson inclusion to be very misleading in the advertising. His appearance is beyond brief in the final cut and it felt like we were due a lot more after watching the trailer. I think I would have preferred the movie if it was weighted the other way with the Tate/Manson side as the focus and the Dalton/Booth side at the add on.
Despite Pitt's performance, the great setting and some other small highlight this film just didn't hit the right notes for me. It was so long, I could have forgiven that had there been a more complex link between the two bits of story. I went in with low expectations and when I came out those were only just met.
If you're considering leaving partway through this there are three reasons that you should stick it out.
- Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth
- Booth's dog
- The last ten minutes (give or take)
The 18 certificate is there for "strong bloody violence", somehow the large amount of drug use doesn't warrant inclusion on the card. Up until around the 2 hour 30 minutes mark this film is a 15. You've had drugs, language and some fights, but nothing that matches up to those last few minutes. They earn that 18 certificate... and it's hilarious. Cliff and his dog are epic and it was worth the rest of the film just to see that, there's some terrible (ridiculous) acting in it that potentially it could have done without but at least I came out slightly less annoyed.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/08/once-upon-time-in-hollywood-movie-review.html
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated The Wicked and the Just in Books
Feb 15, 2019
<i>The Wicked and the Just</i> doesn't have much in the way of a plot, it more focuses on the everyday lives of two very different girls in 13th century Wales, one who's English and lives inside the walls of Caernarvon, the other a Welsh servant, who lives outside the walls, than on any particular focal point. This changes in the latter part of the book when an event that has been gnawing at the fringes suddenly erupts.
My first impression of Cecily is that she's a colossal brat. She's English, thinks she's better than the Welsh (while also fearing they're going to kill her) and her so-called "betters" as well, pouts and connives to get her father to do as she wants, complains...a lot, and doesn't seem to like anyone other than the friends she was forced to leave behind, her father (sometimes), and her dog. But can you blame her if that's how she was raised and didn't know any better? My feelings about her ran the gamut, as did her behavior, it had its ups and downs as does just about anyone. She can be quite funny with her sly remarks or thoughts, but she can also be cruel, kind, loathsome, understanding, and pathetic. Everytime I thought I was about to like her, she'd do something terrible and I thought her lower than dirt, then she'd have her eyes opened to see her surroundings and then she didn't seem so bad. It went like that quite a lot, and by the end, I felt quite bad for her. Gwinny, on the other hand, though while I didn't like her exactly, I understood her right away and sympathized with her position. She is one angry and vengeful person, who through sheer willpower, somehow manages to hold most of it back. The sections told through her eyes are usually shorter than Cecily's, but they get right to the point and have enough information that I didn't feel anything necessary was excluded. The interactions between the two girls are fraught with dislike, loathing, and begrudging understanding, before it all starts over again. Until the last section the characters are the main plot, where after that point the story really explodes into a fast-paced, suspenseful read, which I'll not spoil if you're not familiar with that part of history (I wasn't). You couldn't tear this book from my hands during these last sixty pages if you tried, I was absolutely riveted. The emotions were high, the situations scary, and more than anything it made me grateful. Grateful to have a roof over my head, grateful for the food I can afford to eat, just grateful all around that I don't have to live as the Welsh did, as many others did in the course of history. A word of warning, as with changing circumstances in life there is no concrete ending to the story, which suits the book well. It ends while just beginning and I can't think of a more fitting finish to the story. A good, solid, thought-provoking novel that has a possible crossover appeal to both history-loving teens and adults.
Originally reviewed: September 10
Received: Amazon Vine
My first impression of Cecily is that she's a colossal brat. She's English, thinks she's better than the Welsh (while also fearing they're going to kill her) and her so-called "betters" as well, pouts and connives to get her father to do as she wants, complains...a lot, and doesn't seem to like anyone other than the friends she was forced to leave behind, her father (sometimes), and her dog. But can you blame her if that's how she was raised and didn't know any better? My feelings about her ran the gamut, as did her behavior, it had its ups and downs as does just about anyone. She can be quite funny with her sly remarks or thoughts, but she can also be cruel, kind, loathsome, understanding, and pathetic. Everytime I thought I was about to like her, she'd do something terrible and I thought her lower than dirt, then she'd have her eyes opened to see her surroundings and then she didn't seem so bad. It went like that quite a lot, and by the end, I felt quite bad for her. Gwinny, on the other hand, though while I didn't like her exactly, I understood her right away and sympathized with her position. She is one angry and vengeful person, who through sheer willpower, somehow manages to hold most of it back. The sections told through her eyes are usually shorter than Cecily's, but they get right to the point and have enough information that I didn't feel anything necessary was excluded. The interactions between the two girls are fraught with dislike, loathing, and begrudging understanding, before it all starts over again. Until the last section the characters are the main plot, where after that point the story really explodes into a fast-paced, suspenseful read, which I'll not spoil if you're not familiar with that part of history (I wasn't). You couldn't tear this book from my hands during these last sixty pages if you tried, I was absolutely riveted. The emotions were high, the situations scary, and more than anything it made me grateful. Grateful to have a roof over my head, grateful for the food I can afford to eat, just grateful all around that I don't have to live as the Welsh did, as many others did in the course of history. A word of warning, as with changing circumstances in life there is no concrete ending to the story, which suits the book well. It ends while just beginning and I can't think of a more fitting finish to the story. A good, solid, thought-provoking novel that has a possible crossover appeal to both history-loving teens and adults.
Originally reviewed: September 10
Received: Amazon Vine
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Kim Possible (2019) in Movies
Nov 7, 2019
My name is Emma, and I still love Kim Possible. It's great fun and I will fight anyone who says it isn't. That is if we're talking about the animated series... that is gold, the live action film is not even tin foil.
I love Disney TV movies but I really wish they'd stick to originals or property that was already live action... stop remaking things that really don't need it.
Let's address the casting first.
Sean Giambrone as Ron was a solid bit of casting, the right amount of awkward and bumbling, the only thing is that for anyone who watches The Goldbergs he might just be a little too recognisable, but then I doubt many people will watch both of these things. Michael P. Northey as Mr Barkin, he was good, I was generally impressed... but in a world where we have Patrick Warburton why would we not cast Patrick Warburton? Patton Oswalt does evil genius voice fantastically and as Professor Demeantor he was a great pick. Getting a narrow pass, and it's the very finest of passess, Todd Stashwick. I enjoy him when he pops up in shows but he's no Drakken. He was also done wrong by the make-up department.
Everyone else? That's a no. Possibly the worst casting was on the Possible family themselves. I adore Alyson Hannigan but her Mrs. Dr. P. was no bueno. Same goes for Mr. Dr. P. After seeing them on screen I kind of assumed the story was going to revolve around them having been kidnapped and replaced by Bebes with extra nice programming. Jim and Tim were devoid of any of the character their cartoon counterparts had. And then there's Kim, I'm not sure there would have been anyone I'd have been happy with in this role but they've managed to create something very odd in this casting. Live action Kim acts physically like the cartoon does and yet somehow the personality didn't make the crossover with it.
The idea to take Kim down from the inside is one we've seen before with Eric the synthodrone who was used to further the Little Diablo world domination plan. It's a good narative and the twist we're given here isn't a bad one but the execution feels off.
The film turns the Kim Possible formula into a women kicking ass story but they do it really badly. Mrs. Dr. P. and Nana P. are brought on board and then just used as padding and left to be inept in a corner, it's a poor use of characters and a poor use of source material.
Of course the most important part is did they do Rufus right On the whole he wasn't bad and he certainly got his normal opportunity to come to the rescue so I'm going to say good job on that.
What you should do
Don't call her, don't beep her, if you want to watch Kim Possible then watch the series, this film needs to be forgotten in the depths of Disney+.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
The ability to fly through the air like I'm a cartoon character.
I love Disney TV movies but I really wish they'd stick to originals or property that was already live action... stop remaking things that really don't need it.
Let's address the casting first.
Sean Giambrone as Ron was a solid bit of casting, the right amount of awkward and bumbling, the only thing is that for anyone who watches The Goldbergs he might just be a little too recognisable, but then I doubt many people will watch both of these things. Michael P. Northey as Mr Barkin, he was good, I was generally impressed... but in a world where we have Patrick Warburton why would we not cast Patrick Warburton? Patton Oswalt does evil genius voice fantastically and as Professor Demeantor he was a great pick. Getting a narrow pass, and it's the very finest of passess, Todd Stashwick. I enjoy him when he pops up in shows but he's no Drakken. He was also done wrong by the make-up department.
Everyone else? That's a no. Possibly the worst casting was on the Possible family themselves. I adore Alyson Hannigan but her Mrs. Dr. P. was no bueno. Same goes for Mr. Dr. P. After seeing them on screen I kind of assumed the story was going to revolve around them having been kidnapped and replaced by Bebes with extra nice programming. Jim and Tim were devoid of any of the character their cartoon counterparts had. And then there's Kim, I'm not sure there would have been anyone I'd have been happy with in this role but they've managed to create something very odd in this casting. Live action Kim acts physically like the cartoon does and yet somehow the personality didn't make the crossover with it.
The idea to take Kim down from the inside is one we've seen before with Eric the synthodrone who was used to further the Little Diablo world domination plan. It's a good narative and the twist we're given here isn't a bad one but the execution feels off.
The film turns the Kim Possible formula into a women kicking ass story but they do it really badly. Mrs. Dr. P. and Nana P. are brought on board and then just used as padding and left to be inept in a corner, it's a poor use of characters and a poor use of source material.
Of course the most important part is did they do Rufus right On the whole he wasn't bad and he certainly got his normal opportunity to come to the rescue so I'm going to say good job on that.
What you should do
Don't call her, don't beep her, if you want to watch Kim Possible then watch the series, this film needs to be forgotten in the depths of Disney+.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
The ability to fly through the air like I'm a cartoon character.
Amy Norman (1048 KP) rated The Flash - Season 3 in TV
Jul 9, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
This season was painfully predictable. It had so much potential but with clumsy wording, all of the surprise twists were almost immediately obvious.
I am not a huge fan of shows that take a couple of seasons to build a world and characters, and then in some small twist of fate completely change the characters, and their lives. I think Fringe was one I hated the most but it made it so much more poignant and upsetting, which is why I stuck around was completely absorbed by that show - The Flash doesn't achieve this love.
I understand that they would want to tackle the Flashpoint story arc at some point but the way they handled the fallout of this was somewhat straightforward in this season.
The introduction of a single new character, and a single new villain in the first half of the season, made it hard to ignore who it would be 🤷🏼♀️
For the latter half of the season they quite literally told you who it was, a few times at that, and plainly showed you how easy it would be for that character to become the main villain.
The dreaded musical episode (and usual loose Supergirl crossover) was included in this season. It is rare enough that a show can achieve a truly plausible storyline that you want to follow with musical numbers, and this one was a non-start for me, honestly you could probably skip it, as there is hardly any story progression, and you'll catch up soon enough in the next episode.
Musical episodes I've enjoyed previously: Buffy (the OG, and mother of so many genre specific episodes) or Scrubs.
****Real spoilers from here****
By the last episode I was just watching to get to the end of the season, and am hoping that the team will get back to doing what they do best, which is adapting to new metas and dealing with these.
There is so much potential for alternate Earth storylines, and I would love to see Cisco and Wally have some more complex stories, and character layering.
As I had kind of stopped caring by the end of the last episode I actually wanted Iris to die, and was genuinely shocked and seriously annoyed that she didn't.
So bravo to the team for making me care so little I didn't see the obvious final twist, as again they gave you all the clues, shown in a quick series of flashbacks, just to show you how little you cared that you missed it.
But I also have to commend them, as it was more heartbreaking than what we assumed was the inevitable.
Fingers crossed that the writers will break their usual Flash formula, and come up with some more original content in the coming seasons.
The Flash formula:
Work as a team >> secrets/lies >> mistrust, can't possible forgive >> someone does something stupid on their own >> big impassioned speech >> team comes together >> side character (which deserves more) gets killed, or worse >> kinda saved the day >> rinse and repeat until the end of time!!
I am not a huge fan of shows that take a couple of seasons to build a world and characters, and then in some small twist of fate completely change the characters, and their lives. I think Fringe was one I hated the most but it made it so much more poignant and upsetting, which is why I stuck around was completely absorbed by that show - The Flash doesn't achieve this love.
I understand that they would want to tackle the Flashpoint story arc at some point but the way they handled the fallout of this was somewhat straightforward in this season.
The introduction of a single new character, and a single new villain in the first half of the season, made it hard to ignore who it would be 🤷🏼♀️
For the latter half of the season they quite literally told you who it was, a few times at that, and plainly showed you how easy it would be for that character to become the main villain.
The dreaded musical episode (and usual loose Supergirl crossover) was included in this season. It is rare enough that a show can achieve a truly plausible storyline that you want to follow with musical numbers, and this one was a non-start for me, honestly you could probably skip it, as there is hardly any story progression, and you'll catch up soon enough in the next episode.
Musical episodes I've enjoyed previously: Buffy (the OG, and mother of so many genre specific episodes) or Scrubs.
****Real spoilers from here****
By the last episode I was just watching to get to the end of the season, and am hoping that the team will get back to doing what they do best, which is adapting to new metas and dealing with these.
There is so much potential for alternate Earth storylines, and I would love to see Cisco and Wally have some more complex stories, and character layering.
As I had kind of stopped caring by the end of the last episode I actually wanted Iris to die, and was genuinely shocked and seriously annoyed that she didn't.
So bravo to the team for making me care so little I didn't see the obvious final twist, as again they gave you all the clues, shown in a quick series of flashbacks, just to show you how little you cared that you missed it.
But I also have to commend them, as it was more heartbreaking than what we assumed was the inevitable.
Fingers crossed that the writers will break their usual Flash formula, and come up with some more original content in the coming seasons.
The Flash formula:
Work as a team >> secrets/lies >> mistrust, can't possible forgive >> someone does something stupid on their own >> big impassioned speech >> team comes together >> side character (which deserves more) gets killed, or worse >> kinda saved the day >> rinse and repeat until the end of time!!
Lee (2222 KP) rated Skyscraper (2018) in Movies
Jul 13, 2018
Surprising Enjoyable Action Movie
As I headed into Skyscraper at my local cinema, I tweeted something about disengaging my brain for a couple of hours, fully open to the prospect of some completely ridiculous action, courtesy of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. That's exactly what I ended up with, and I actually really enjoyed it all too.
The movie opens 10 years ago, with FBI agent Will Sawyer (Johnson) and his team attending a domestic hostage situation which goes badly wrong. Back in the present, Will is now an amputee and married to the military nurse that cared for him during that incident (Neve Campbell). They've got 2 young kids and the whole family is in Hong Kong where Will has been hired as security consultant for The Pearl, a new state-of-the-art skyscraper and the tallest building in the world. A news reel montage fires off lots of impressive facts and figures about the building, hardly giving you time to digest or even question them. Let's just say, it cost billions of dollars, looks incredibly futuristic (and a bit silly) and is a scientific wonder of the world. Before The Pearl opens up its doors for people to live and work in though, Will needs to sign off on fire safety and security.
We're shown Will putting on his false leg, letting us know how that all works in preparation for later scenes in the movie. Will then fixes his wife's phone before he rushes out of the door and ushers a line so obviously important to the movie it's actually annoyingly distracting. So important is this piece of information, he actually uses two variations of it within minutes of each other too - "Remember, you can fix 90% of problems by just turning it off and on again...". Like I say, just disengage your brain, don't worry about it, and you'll be fine.
If you've seen the trailer, you'll have gathered that Wills family are the only residents in The Pearl, with the buildings owner and his team way up top in the penthouse. You'll have gathered that this is attempting to be a Die Hard / Towering Inferno crossover, and that there are bad guys involved. You'll no doubt have also seen the famous leap from a crane by Dwayne Johnsons character into the burning skyscraper. This is where the movie really kicks into action.
Now, I was watching this in 3D, so I'm not sure if it will have quite the same effect on a TV screen at home, but I was literally on the edge of my seat whenever Will was either dangling or jumping 96 floors in the air (which is a lot), while a Hong Kong crowd gasps and cheers on the streets below. The action and peril is relentless, repeatedly moving Will and his family from one dangerous set piece to another. While not quite as funny or charming as he is in his other movies, Skyscraper is still all about Dwayne Johnson though, and all other characters come out of this pretty short changed. Neve Campbell gets a couple of chances to kick some ass, but otherwise she's pretty underused. The bad guys aren't particularly effective, or memorable, neither are the police team down on the ground.
It's predictable and it's ridiculous. But I absolutely loved it.
The movie opens 10 years ago, with FBI agent Will Sawyer (Johnson) and his team attending a domestic hostage situation which goes badly wrong. Back in the present, Will is now an amputee and married to the military nurse that cared for him during that incident (Neve Campbell). They've got 2 young kids and the whole family is in Hong Kong where Will has been hired as security consultant for The Pearl, a new state-of-the-art skyscraper and the tallest building in the world. A news reel montage fires off lots of impressive facts and figures about the building, hardly giving you time to digest or even question them. Let's just say, it cost billions of dollars, looks incredibly futuristic (and a bit silly) and is a scientific wonder of the world. Before The Pearl opens up its doors for people to live and work in though, Will needs to sign off on fire safety and security.
We're shown Will putting on his false leg, letting us know how that all works in preparation for later scenes in the movie. Will then fixes his wife's phone before he rushes out of the door and ushers a line so obviously important to the movie it's actually annoyingly distracting. So important is this piece of information, he actually uses two variations of it within minutes of each other too - "Remember, you can fix 90% of problems by just turning it off and on again...". Like I say, just disengage your brain, don't worry about it, and you'll be fine.
If you've seen the trailer, you'll have gathered that Wills family are the only residents in The Pearl, with the buildings owner and his team way up top in the penthouse. You'll have gathered that this is attempting to be a Die Hard / Towering Inferno crossover, and that there are bad guys involved. You'll no doubt have also seen the famous leap from a crane by Dwayne Johnsons character into the burning skyscraper. This is where the movie really kicks into action.
Now, I was watching this in 3D, so I'm not sure if it will have quite the same effect on a TV screen at home, but I was literally on the edge of my seat whenever Will was either dangling or jumping 96 floors in the air (which is a lot), while a Hong Kong crowd gasps and cheers on the streets below. The action and peril is relentless, repeatedly moving Will and his family from one dangerous set piece to another. While not quite as funny or charming as he is in his other movies, Skyscraper is still all about Dwayne Johnson though, and all other characters come out of this pretty short changed. Neve Campbell gets a couple of chances to kick some ass, but otherwise she's pretty underused. The bad guys aren't particularly effective, or memorable, neither are the police team down on the ground.
It's predictable and it's ridiculous. But I absolutely loved it.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Brightburn (2019) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)
Superheroes and villains are a subject close to my heart, I enjoy speculating on the good and bad potential of superpowers, so to have the bad Superman story laid out like this is very interesting to experience.
Having a bad Superman would have been good, but switching it to a child automatically knocks the "scary" up a notch, something we saw earlier in the year in The Prodigy.
Tori and Kyle Breyer are desperately trying to have a baby, their lives start to revolve around the idea when one night the Earth literally moves for them and a meteor hits their farm. Ten years later and Tori and Kyle have their adopted son, Brandon, but growing up comes with some unexpected twists.
Brightburn's trailer makes it very clear that what we're going to see is a Superman-style childhood but the film is actually not so blatant. In fact, everything about the pre-release information tells you exactly what you're going to get while the film alone actually leaves it to your imagination. You have to make assumptions and educated guesses about what's going to happen. It's a bit of a shame that there's really no successful way to advertise this film without pointing out the obvious.
Elizabeth Banks (eternally young and possibly getting younger) plays Tori, Brandon's mum. The terror she gets across while still retaining a mother's love is spot on and great to watch on screen. In particular there's a scene where she discovers Brandon's notebook and the way she reacts made me react, and twisting that scene with the side story of Brandon and his dad was so effective.
I have one fault when it comes to horror, and that's that I can't take it seriously, luckily lots of people in my screening felt the same way too. While there were a couple of moments that went for actual humour I found myself laughing at some of the gore too. It was the same reaction as I get from extreme action scenes, an extended "oooooooh!" with a slight wince and then laughing. I can't help it, it's just funny.
Brightburn is probably an easier horror to see as the scary moments are mostly predictable so you could close your eyes in time for the bad bits if you wanted too, a lot are prefixed with something ominous in the background to prepare you.
One moment that made me jump was actually not a scary piece, it was the moment Brandon realises he's different. You already know part of his discovery if you've seen the trailer and yet again this film then tweaks that moment to give you something a little different.
The way they use light and dark is great because it allows things to creep up on you, quite literally, and highlights the evil that is starting to permeate the town.
It surprises me that I enjoyed this one as much as I did. I think the action moments probably holds up a lot of it. I like the idea, but I'm not convinced that it was created as well as it could have been. I was impressed that they didn't step back from the violent moments though, Brightburn is ballsy, and I like it for that.
[Note: Stay to see some clips into the credits.]
What you should do
If you like horror then I think it's a fairly good offering to see, it's probably also a good crossover if you're more into superheroes.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I'd love the aunt's house but without the creepy added extras.
Having a bad Superman would have been good, but switching it to a child automatically knocks the "scary" up a notch, something we saw earlier in the year in The Prodigy.
Tori and Kyle Breyer are desperately trying to have a baby, their lives start to revolve around the idea when one night the Earth literally moves for them and a meteor hits their farm. Ten years later and Tori and Kyle have their adopted son, Brandon, but growing up comes with some unexpected twists.
Brightburn's trailer makes it very clear that what we're going to see is a Superman-style childhood but the film is actually not so blatant. In fact, everything about the pre-release information tells you exactly what you're going to get while the film alone actually leaves it to your imagination. You have to make assumptions and educated guesses about what's going to happen. It's a bit of a shame that there's really no successful way to advertise this film without pointing out the obvious.
Elizabeth Banks (eternally young and possibly getting younger) plays Tori, Brandon's mum. The terror she gets across while still retaining a mother's love is spot on and great to watch on screen. In particular there's a scene where she discovers Brandon's notebook and the way she reacts made me react, and twisting that scene with the side story of Brandon and his dad was so effective.
I have one fault when it comes to horror, and that's that I can't take it seriously, luckily lots of people in my screening felt the same way too. While there were a couple of moments that went for actual humour I found myself laughing at some of the gore too. It was the same reaction as I get from extreme action scenes, an extended "oooooooh!" with a slight wince and then laughing. I can't help it, it's just funny.
Brightburn is probably an easier horror to see as the scary moments are mostly predictable so you could close your eyes in time for the bad bits if you wanted too, a lot are prefixed with something ominous in the background to prepare you.
One moment that made me jump was actually not a scary piece, it was the moment Brandon realises he's different. You already know part of his discovery if you've seen the trailer and yet again this film then tweaks that moment to give you something a little different.
The way they use light and dark is great because it allows things to creep up on you, quite literally, and highlights the evil that is starting to permeate the town.
It surprises me that I enjoyed this one as much as I did. I think the action moments probably holds up a lot of it. I like the idea, but I'm not convinced that it was created as well as it could have been. I was impressed that they didn't step back from the violent moments though, Brightburn is ballsy, and I like it for that.
[Note: Stay to see some clips into the credits.]
What you should do
If you like horror then I think it's a fairly good offering to see, it's probably also a good crossover if you're more into superheroes.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I'd love the aunt's house but without the creepy added extras.
365Flicks (235 KP) rated Cute Little Buggers (2017) in Movies
Nov 20, 2019
What the hell exactly did I just watch? Now where will I start with Cute Little Buggers, apart from fact that its the coolest movie title I have seen in a long time.
Cute Little Buggers… Hmmmmm
Cute Little Buggers…
Right okay. Let me start by saying that there is a movie here, A pretty decent one at that. When this movie knows exactly what it is and can be, it is great (a guilty pleasure if you will) when this movie shoots for the stars and trys to be what it wants to be it falls just short for me, however if there is one thing I love and can get behind, its when a director and his crew do what they can with what they have.
Let’s crack on with the pitch… We open up this very, very, very British horror movie in a small town in the south of England that is full of your typical small town England movie characters. Characters like the put upon farmer whose son left town to make it big and for the purposes of story-line has returned this very day. Then we have said prodigal sons old flame who is with the local village asshole now but the candle still burns bright. Local law enforcement, yes you guessed it, as dumb as a box of rocks. Then of course all your regular locals. One other thing, everyone seems to be a bit of a sexual deviant. We are about to spend a day and night with these crazy madcap zany characters as Aliens (Yes I said Aliens) have come to town and are going to use Rabbits (Yes I said Rabbits) to infiltrate and kidnap the women of earth… Oh shit nearly forgot heres the trailer…
I know right the movie is as mental as this trailer looks. I was completely sold for the first half of this movie, Director Tony Jopia was taking his time to build up these characters and every member of the cast knew what kind of flick they were making (a sort of crossover between Hot Fuzz and Critters) so while you could see they were having a bit of fun it also helped the chemistry flow. My god did the movie need that chemistry so we could up the laugh-ability and like-ability factor because on an estimated budget of 25k, the digital on the scares (Tentacle Bunny Things) were pretty laughable. Now as I said I give credit to any director who goes out and makes his passion so I don’t blame Jopia for one second, it was a budget thing and he absolutely made up for it everywhere else by casting well and having a pretty solid script with some cracking one liners. Just the effects left me feeling MEH. We just wont mention the Alien cut scenes on this review.
For me this is a recommend but its a pretty weak one as you may have guessed. That cast all play there parts and they do play them well on just the other side of bonkers and in some cases crazy beautiful. Tony Jopia as a director definitely has something, I dunno maybe with a bit more of a budget but I will say again there is a movie here.
Cute Little Buggers… Hmmmmm
Cute Little Buggers…
Right okay. Let me start by saying that there is a movie here, A pretty decent one at that. When this movie knows exactly what it is and can be, it is great (a guilty pleasure if you will) when this movie shoots for the stars and trys to be what it wants to be it falls just short for me, however if there is one thing I love and can get behind, its when a director and his crew do what they can with what they have.
Let’s crack on with the pitch… We open up this very, very, very British horror movie in a small town in the south of England that is full of your typical small town England movie characters. Characters like the put upon farmer whose son left town to make it big and for the purposes of story-line has returned this very day. Then we have said prodigal sons old flame who is with the local village asshole now but the candle still burns bright. Local law enforcement, yes you guessed it, as dumb as a box of rocks. Then of course all your regular locals. One other thing, everyone seems to be a bit of a sexual deviant. We are about to spend a day and night with these crazy madcap zany characters as Aliens (Yes I said Aliens) have come to town and are going to use Rabbits (Yes I said Rabbits) to infiltrate and kidnap the women of earth… Oh shit nearly forgot heres the trailer…
I know right the movie is as mental as this trailer looks. I was completely sold for the first half of this movie, Director Tony Jopia was taking his time to build up these characters and every member of the cast knew what kind of flick they were making (a sort of crossover between Hot Fuzz and Critters) so while you could see they were having a bit of fun it also helped the chemistry flow. My god did the movie need that chemistry so we could up the laugh-ability and like-ability factor because on an estimated budget of 25k, the digital on the scares (Tentacle Bunny Things) were pretty laughable. Now as I said I give credit to any director who goes out and makes his passion so I don’t blame Jopia for one second, it was a budget thing and he absolutely made up for it everywhere else by casting well and having a pretty solid script with some cracking one liners. Just the effects left me feeling MEH. We just wont mention the Alien cut scenes on this review.
For me this is a recommend but its a pretty weak one as you may have guessed. That cast all play there parts and they do play them well on just the other side of bonkers and in some cases crazy beautiful. Tony Jopia as a director definitely has something, I dunno maybe with a bit more of a budget but I will say again there is a movie here.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Brazen (Gilded, #3) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
I love <i><a title="Gilded review" href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-gilded-by-christina-farley"; target="_blank" rel="noopener tag">Gilded</a></i> and all (<i>Silvern</i> is my least favorite), but <i>Brazen</i> is either a tie or my favorite of the entire series.
The third and final book in the <i>Gilded</i> series takes off shortly after <i>Silvern</i> when Jae Hwa signs a contract with Kud, Lord of Darkness and Chaos, to leave behind her family and past life in exchange to save Marc's life. Under Kud's control, Jae Hwa finds ways to save Korea and possibly the world from Kud's potential rule.
There is never a dull moment in <i>Brazen</i> the book is more action-packed and exciting than the first two books combined (those were exciting in and of themselves, but <i>Brazen</i> is so much more). Jae Hwa's seriously kick butt side also appears as Jae Hwa runs against time to find the Black Turtle orb and returning it to the Heavenly Chest before she loses her humanity or Kud finds the orb for himself. With the contract between Kud branded on her arm, Jae Hwa basically has no one on her side the Guardians want her head on a platter, Marc is cold and indifferent towards her as expected from the Guardians, and Kud holds the constant threat of harming her loved ones on her head.
But even though almost everyone is against her, Jae Hwa is slowly losing her humanity, and Kud seems to be onto her act sometimes, Jae Hwa still manages to evade revealing her true intentions to the lord of Darkness.
Farley also introduces readers to a little bit of Chinese mythology and history on Jae Hwa's search for the final orb, with plenty of life-threatening trials and obstacles that consist of mercury, tombs, and skeletons (plus, drowning). It also promptly demanded me to suggest that Christina pull a Rick Riordan and collide Chinese and Korean mythology together in a spin-off series (I just read the Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover at the time...). Fangirl me squealed when Christina said she loved the idea. (Now I'm really going to start counting my lucky book stars for that to happen.)
In reality, the idea is partially for a selfish reason and I honestly don't want to be done with the entire series. Even though I had a few bumpy occurrences with the characters a few times in Gilded and <i><a title="Silvern review" href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-silvern-by-christina-farley"; target="_blank" rel="noopener tag">Silvern</a></i>, I've actually grown to like Jae Hwa and company. All of them have grown so much in the three books that it's really hard to let them all go and carry on with their happily fictional lives.
I also envy anyone who hasn't reached the final book yet. >_< (But I wouldn't have been able to "shove" the book in a friend's face if I didn't get introduced to the series.)
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-brazen-by-christina-farley/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
I love <i><a title="Gilded review" href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-gilded-by-christina-farley"; target="_blank" rel="noopener tag">Gilded</a></i> and all (<i>Silvern</i> is my least favorite), but <i>Brazen</i> is either a tie or my favorite of the entire series.
The third and final book in the <i>Gilded</i> series takes off shortly after <i>Silvern</i> when Jae Hwa signs a contract with Kud, Lord of Darkness and Chaos, to leave behind her family and past life in exchange to save Marc's life. Under Kud's control, Jae Hwa finds ways to save Korea and possibly the world from Kud's potential rule.
There is never a dull moment in <i>Brazen</i> the book is more action-packed and exciting than the first two books combined (those were exciting in and of themselves, but <i>Brazen</i> is so much more). Jae Hwa's seriously kick butt side also appears as Jae Hwa runs against time to find the Black Turtle orb and returning it to the Heavenly Chest before she loses her humanity or Kud finds the orb for himself. With the contract between Kud branded on her arm, Jae Hwa basically has no one on her side the Guardians want her head on a platter, Marc is cold and indifferent towards her as expected from the Guardians, and Kud holds the constant threat of harming her loved ones on her head.
But even though almost everyone is against her, Jae Hwa is slowly losing her humanity, and Kud seems to be onto her act sometimes, Jae Hwa still manages to evade revealing her true intentions to the lord of Darkness.
Farley also introduces readers to a little bit of Chinese mythology and history on Jae Hwa's search for the final orb, with plenty of life-threatening trials and obstacles that consist of mercury, tombs, and skeletons (plus, drowning). It also promptly demanded me to suggest that Christina pull a Rick Riordan and collide Chinese and Korean mythology together in a spin-off series (I just read the Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover at the time...). Fangirl me squealed when Christina said she loved the idea. (Now I'm really going to start counting my lucky book stars for that to happen.)
In reality, the idea is partially for a selfish reason and I honestly don't want to be done with the entire series. Even though I had a few bumpy occurrences with the characters a few times in Gilded and <i><a title="Silvern review" href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-silvern-by-christina-farley"; target="_blank" rel="noopener tag">Silvern</a></i>, I've actually grown to like Jae Hwa and company. All of them have grown so much in the three books that it's really hard to let them all go and carry on with their happily fictional lives.
I also envy anyone who hasn't reached the final book yet. >_< (But I wouldn't have been able to "shove" the book in a friend's face if I didn't get introduced to the series.)
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-brazen-by-christina-farley/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Twist (2021) in Movies
Feb 17, 2021
I'm not sure what grabbed me about this one to make me watch... probably the cast. When will I learn?
Twist has been fending for himself for a long time, but when he crosses paths with Dodge and Batesy, he finds himself a family on the wrong side of the law.
The trend for updating stories is one I've enjoyed in the past, but Twist felt like a weird hybrid of a film that... well, let's get into it.
It may have been based on Oliver Twist, but I genuinely don't think they should have made is such a big splash. Yes, there are similarities, but the majority of the time it just felt like it was the character names being thrown in at random to make the connection. And is it the sort of connection you need to exploit? I don't think that you've naturally got a crossover between what the story of Oliver Twist is and what is represented here.
As an ensemble it's got some pretty big names attached. Caine, Clarke and Headey are generally a good call when it comes to picking something to watch... this is definitely how I got tricked into watching Twist.
Caine was... Caine, if you know, you know. Headey was a psycho that came across so excessively over the top, maybe to give the film wider appeal in other markets? I'm not entirely sure to be honest. And Clarke at least made for some enjoyable watching.
Our other, younger cast members, were such a random group. Rafferty Law as Twist didn't give a lot, and I know that by the nature of his character origin and backstory his nature was supposed to be on a different level to the others, but I didn't find it very believable. Dodge and Batesy played by Rita Ora and Franz Drameh fit well together initially, but I quickly found Drameh to be much more skilled as Ora's acting became a little lacklustre.
Overall there's weren't many moments in Twist that worked for me because of this odd mix of cast. The biggest anomaly being Leigh Francis as the traffic warden. Had the tone of the film been different then I absolutely could have seen a place for him in it, but as it was his role stuck out like a sore thumb.
We witness a lot of freerunning (or parkour, I'm not sure which term is more appropriate here) through the film and they used this as an opportunity to fling the camera around too and put in some fancy moves. Generally I'm not a fan, and while they fit in the moment, they seemed out of place given that the rest of the camerawork felt a little more generic. I noted down that it seemed to almost be missing at some points, but I'm not sure if that's because I just sighed and ignored it or if it was only used on certain types of shots... I will not be watching it again to find out.
Twist feels like it's what you would get if you took the TV series Hustle and mixed it with a London gangster movie... but without the same level of finesse. There is definitely something in this film but I think I was severely distracted by the attempt to capitalise on a bizarre reworking of a classic tale.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/02/twist-movie-review.html
Twist has been fending for himself for a long time, but when he crosses paths with Dodge and Batesy, he finds himself a family on the wrong side of the law.
The trend for updating stories is one I've enjoyed in the past, but Twist felt like a weird hybrid of a film that... well, let's get into it.
It may have been based on Oliver Twist, but I genuinely don't think they should have made is such a big splash. Yes, there are similarities, but the majority of the time it just felt like it was the character names being thrown in at random to make the connection. And is it the sort of connection you need to exploit? I don't think that you've naturally got a crossover between what the story of Oliver Twist is and what is represented here.
As an ensemble it's got some pretty big names attached. Caine, Clarke and Headey are generally a good call when it comes to picking something to watch... this is definitely how I got tricked into watching Twist.
Caine was... Caine, if you know, you know. Headey was a psycho that came across so excessively over the top, maybe to give the film wider appeal in other markets? I'm not entirely sure to be honest. And Clarke at least made for some enjoyable watching.
Our other, younger cast members, were such a random group. Rafferty Law as Twist didn't give a lot, and I know that by the nature of his character origin and backstory his nature was supposed to be on a different level to the others, but I didn't find it very believable. Dodge and Batesy played by Rita Ora and Franz Drameh fit well together initially, but I quickly found Drameh to be much more skilled as Ora's acting became a little lacklustre.
Overall there's weren't many moments in Twist that worked for me because of this odd mix of cast. The biggest anomaly being Leigh Francis as the traffic warden. Had the tone of the film been different then I absolutely could have seen a place for him in it, but as it was his role stuck out like a sore thumb.
We witness a lot of freerunning (or parkour, I'm not sure which term is more appropriate here) through the film and they used this as an opportunity to fling the camera around too and put in some fancy moves. Generally I'm not a fan, and while they fit in the moment, they seemed out of place given that the rest of the camerawork felt a little more generic. I noted down that it seemed to almost be missing at some points, but I'm not sure if that's because I just sighed and ignored it or if it was only used on certain types of shots... I will not be watching it again to find out.
Twist feels like it's what you would get if you took the TV series Hustle and mixed it with a London gangster movie... but without the same level of finesse. There is definitely something in this film but I think I was severely distracted by the attempt to capitalise on a bizarre reworking of a classic tale.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/02/twist-movie-review.html
Lenard (726 KP) rated One Night in Miami (2020) in Movies
Jan 9, 2021
One Night in Miami is from start to finish a frank examination on responsibility and acceptance. On February 25, 1964, four friends who happened to highly visible black men, Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown, met in a hotel room after Cassius surprised the world in winning the heavyweight championship. But, before we get to that night, we are introduced to each man at a crossroads. Malcolm X is breaking away from the Nation of Islam after witnessing the corruption of its leadership. His actions would lead some members to view him as a direct threat. Cassius Clay is a great boxer, but his focus is waning. His brash style is alienating the audience and he has opinions about the way his brothers are being treated in the country. Sam Cooke is recognized as a great voice, but still not respected in the "white" world where success is gauged. He is looking for a way to crossover without betraying his roots. Jim Brown is the greatest football player, but even in his hometown he is still seen as inferior socially. In this dramatized version of the events of that night, each man must come to terms with the path he has chosen and the path forward.
Like another recent film, the path is a choice between making changes within the system, like Sam Cooke and Jim Brown have attempted, or to change the system from the outside, like Malcolm and Clay. Both paths have their advantages, and both are also deadly. Within a year, both Malcolm and Cooke would be dead. The movie based on a play finds ways from each character to learn from the others by pairing them off in various combinations (Malcolm-Cooke, Brown-Clay, Cooke-Clay, Malcolm-Brown, Malcolm-Clay, Cooke-Brown). The main antagonism takes place between Cooke and Malcolm. Cooke sees Malcolm as a militant who is creating sowing seeds of fear in the eyes of "America" and Malcolm sees Cooke as a Stepin Fetchit with a huge amount of talent wasted playing by the rules. Cooke shows Malcolm that he is quietly taking control while Malcolm gives Cooke the spark to sing for civil rights for the less fortunate members of black society. Malcolm also begins to see how his actions have hurt his brothers by grouping all members of one race together similar to the way whites do not distinguish between black individuals. The movie never shies away from shading each hero with flaws.
Malcolm may be paranoid as evidenced by a couple scenes where he sees people on his trail who may or may not be real. Under a lot of pressure to break from his organization, Malcolm sees his staff betraying him to the feds who have been investigating him since he first started speaking. The whole subplot humanizes a man who many view as dangerous to the world. Jim Brown is also seen as a hero to most. He broke records and is about to conquer the film industry. Maybe they are using him, but he is using them to shine a light on the inequality of the races.
Lastly, one scene in the movie is a highlight. It is not in Miami, but in Boston. It shows how one man can turn a riot into a celebration of joy. With the main road blocked, a man of great talent can turn adversity into victory using his wits and his voice.
Like another recent film, the path is a choice between making changes within the system, like Sam Cooke and Jim Brown have attempted, or to change the system from the outside, like Malcolm and Clay. Both paths have their advantages, and both are also deadly. Within a year, both Malcolm and Cooke would be dead. The movie based on a play finds ways from each character to learn from the others by pairing them off in various combinations (Malcolm-Cooke, Brown-Clay, Cooke-Clay, Malcolm-Brown, Malcolm-Clay, Cooke-Brown). The main antagonism takes place between Cooke and Malcolm. Cooke sees Malcolm as a militant who is creating sowing seeds of fear in the eyes of "America" and Malcolm sees Cooke as a Stepin Fetchit with a huge amount of talent wasted playing by the rules. Cooke shows Malcolm that he is quietly taking control while Malcolm gives Cooke the spark to sing for civil rights for the less fortunate members of black society. Malcolm also begins to see how his actions have hurt his brothers by grouping all members of one race together similar to the way whites do not distinguish between black individuals. The movie never shies away from shading each hero with flaws.
Malcolm may be paranoid as evidenced by a couple scenes where he sees people on his trail who may or may not be real. Under a lot of pressure to break from his organization, Malcolm sees his staff betraying him to the feds who have been investigating him since he first started speaking. The whole subplot humanizes a man who many view as dangerous to the world. Jim Brown is also seen as a hero to most. He broke records and is about to conquer the film industry. Maybe they are using him, but he is using them to shine a light on the inequality of the races.
Lastly, one scene in the movie is a highlight. It is not in Miami, but in Boston. It shows how one man can turn a riot into a celebration of joy. With the main road blocked, a man of great talent can turn adversity into victory using his wits and his voice.