Search

Search only in certain items:

Stowaway (2021)
Stowaway (2021)
2021 | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
4
5.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Netflix's latest movie, billed as being a tense psychological thriller.

Spoiler alert: it's not.

It follows a manned mission to Mars in which the three person crew find a fourth unwittingly aboard after take-off, and after they have travelled too far to turn back.

Then, to make things worse, they discover that there is only enough oxygen left for 2 survivors, with the three-man limit already dangerously close to the redline, and have to try to find a solution to their dilemma that doesn't involve them all suffocating.

It's pretty obvious from the outset where this is going, along it takes it's time to get there, completely lacking (for me) any sense of atmosphere, or even peril and completely failing to hold my attention at all.
  
40x40

Tarsem Singh recommended Mirror (1975) in Movies (curated)

 
Mirror (1975)
Mirror (1975)
1975 | Biography, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This used to get me when I was in college. I haven’t watched [Tarkovsky’s] films for years now, but they really got my goat. I did not understand anything. I just watched it, and I used to have a visceral reaction with them. And I haven’t seen them for about 20 years, but any of his [would make the list]. I think The Mirror, or even The Sacrifice, or Nostalghia — any one of those just blew my rocks off. Somebody like Polanski, he does a film with the devil or he does a thriller and his DNA is all over it. So when I look at the Tarkovsky films I just think like I could interchange all of them and watch them, each one of them just shook my world."

Source
  
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
2021 | Horror, Thriller
Different direction for Saw (1 more)
Gore fans will be happy
Chris Rock miscast (0 more)
I want to play a game
This seems to have come out of nowhere, or I'm just well behind with up coming releases. A detective story from the Saw universe.
Chris Rock, a little hard to view as a homicide detective, is working a case of a potential copycat killer of Saw targeting dirty cops. There is plenty of blood and gore in the traps as you expect, although they are less centre stage this time.
It's a decent mix of a cop thriller with the Saw traps twist thrown in. Although the ending was a little abrupt for me. Overall a decent film that will keep Saw fans happy while moving in a different direction.
  
40x40

Baz Luhrmann recommended Star 80 (1983) in Movies (curated)

 
Star 80 (1983)
Star 80 (1983)
1983 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Cabaret is the classic work [from director Bob Fosse], but Star 80 I think is really worth visiting, because it wasn’t a successful film and it really dealt with a kind of heinous crime. The film itself is brilliantly made, in terms of rhythm and storytelling; if you look at it you’ll see that a lot of directors of my era have been influenced by the aesthetic. Bob Fosse’s great ability with rhythmic storytelling is very alive in the movie, and what’s so intriguing is that it takes a true chapter in the history of Hugh Hefner and the world of Playboy and tells it as a kind of psychological thriller — but with a whole lot of Fosse-like theatricality. So I think that’s a kind of little off-the-radar gem."

Source
  
40x40

Awix (3310 KP) rated Nobody (2021) in Movies

Jul 24, 2021  
Nobody (2021)
Nobody (2021)
2021 | Action, Comedy, Crime
8
7.8 (20 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Deadpan action-comedy from the John Wick people. The premise is more or less the same - supposedly retired hard man finds himself drawn into increasingly violent clashes with gangsters - but it's less stylised and more intentionally comedic. The main joke is the unlikelihood of someone so slight and nondescript as Bob Odenkirk taking out bad guys in droves; the actor plays it with a light touch.

Thoroughly satisfying action, some very good gags, and - most importantly - this is a film which understands the importance of taking a breath for a few character moments. You get a sense of real conflict in the protagonist, the sort of thing many films go on about without ever really bringing to life. Very nicely played, written and acted, a witty and satisfying thriller.
  
Les Misérables (2019)
Les Misérables (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama
Gritty French social thriller (if that's a thing) hits its targets. A policeman newly assigned to a special unit in Paris finds his first day at work turning into a nightmare as tensions rise between different groups and his superior turns out to be an undisciplined loose cannon.

Bleak but compelling: this film was made in 2018 and 2019, but its concern with race, poverty, police brutality and the abuse of power means it feels very timely. Gripping plot and strong performances result in a film which is frequently tense even if it's seldom reassuring. The climax is as strong a condemnation of the failure of the young by wider social structures as I can remember seeing. A powerful and serious film, but also a very satisfying piece of entertainment.
  
Black and Blue (2019)
Black and Blue (2019)
2019 | Action, Crime, Drama
Good cast (0 more)
The plot has been done better before (0 more)
Decent crime thriller
One of the films I missed as it didn't get a long release at the cinema in the UK. Naomie Harris plays a rookie cop in a rundown area of New Orleans. With corrupt cops and gangs working together in the supply of drugs. Soon she is hunted by both through the neighborhood after capturing a murder by the corrupt cops on her bodycam.
Overall it was an enjoyable watch, a little slow at the start and middle section. It had quite a low budget feel to it despite some big cast names. Worth a watch but far from the better films with a similar plotline. @21 Bridges (2019) is one example that had more action.
  
Captive State (2019)
Captive State (2019)
2019 | Sci-Fi, Thriller
John Goodman (0 more)
Crappy Aliens (0 more)
If you saw the trailers for this movie before its release you would think your getting an all out humans vs aliens action movie but that's not what this is.This is more of a suspense/thriller movie with a few small action sequences thrown in.

After the earth is invaded by aliens the humans are colonised and put to work by them in exchange for their protection.No more wars..crime is down etc etc

After one failed attempt at starting a war another one is put into place and this is the main focus of the film.All is not as it seems though and when we get to the final 5 minutes of the movie all is made apparent.Not a classic in the sci-fi genre but certainly worth a look.
  
By Chance (Courtland Chronicles, #1)
By Chance (Courtland Chronicles, #1)
Cat Grant | 2009
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hmmm...I read this because after finishing Cut & Run yesterday I was still in the mood for a little m/m romance. Unfortunately this didn't hook me as much and I was a little bored by the story line, that's not to say it was bad, because it isn't. It just didn't hold my attention as much as a thriller.

I've even had a nosy at the rest of the series and after reading the acknowledgements section after the story, I have to admire the author for her...balls? in writing a series that spans twenty years and involves the development of Eric and Nick's life's while involving a wife for one of them.

I'm not entirely sure if I'll continue it yet, but I'll certainly keep it in mind for the future.