Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

Dean (6927 KP) rated The Blackcoat's Daughter (February) (2015) in Movies

Apr 24, 2022 (Updated Apr 24, 2022)  
The Blackcoat's Daughter (February) (2015)
The Blackcoat's Daughter (February) (2015)
2015 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Cast (1 more)
Errie atmosphere
Very slow pace (2 more)
Poorly executed
The ending
Rather boring
Seen this around on Netflix a while back and caught on Film4 recently. I gave it a go as Emma Roberts is in it. Called February in the UK.
It's a very slow paced , atmospheric Horror. The pace is rather tedious to the point it's not until the last 15 minutes that everything comes together and makes sense.
A couple of girls are left behind at a boarding school in a cold bleak February. Something sinister appears to be happening. Meanwhile another girl escapes a mental health hospital and makes her way to the School.
It's just far too slow with little happening until towards the very end. Also one of those endings that is frustrating making you think is that it? The story once you figure it out is interesting but it is badly done.
  
40x40

Lenard (726 KP) created a post

Jan 12, 2020  
Final Oscar Nomination Predictions
This has been a weird year where it seems like you cannot base the BP noms on an equitable studio split or traditional metrics. I do not think there will be 10 and there is a good chance that only 8 will get nominated again, but I have no idea which film will be snubbed so here are the predictions for 2020.

BEST PICTURE
1917 (Universal)
Ford v Ferrari (Fox)
The Irishman (Netflix)
Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
Joker (Warner Bros)
Little Women (Columbia)
Marriage Story (Netflix)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Columbia)
Parasite (Neon)

BEST DIRECTOR
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit

BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas, Pain & Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

BEST ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Lupita Nyongo, Us (here is where preferential balloting is good)
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renee Zellweger, Judy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (His speech solidified his nom)
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell (my longshot, but ScarJo is not respected in Hollywood)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won, Parasite
Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie, Uncut Gems
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
People talk about a lack of female direction nomination, but screenplay is just as void.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes
Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Joker
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
I wish there was room for Lorene Scafaria.
     
Triple Frontier (2019)
Triple Frontier (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Crime
Triple Frontier is the latest straight-to-Netflix blockbuster that manages to hit the right notes at the right times. More often than not Netflix originals aren’t anything to get excited about, although occasionally there is a diamond in the rough.

Triple Frontier turns from taught heist thriller to survivalistic drama all in the space of a few acts, and if you stick with it then you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Tracking down South American drug lord Gabriel Martin Lorea (Reynaldo Gallegos) has been an obsession for Santiago “Pope” Garcia (Oscar Isaac), but at last the intel has paid off.

Garcia has not only discovered where Lorea is located but where he is hiding his huge fortune. Rather than turn the intel over to the authorities he keeps the information for himself, sharing it with a group of ex-Special Forces buddies. The plan is simple, undergo surveillance of the compound and then pull off a daring heist where they will all walk away with a life changing amount of cash.

There is a lot of unrest initially, as all come to understand the complications as well as severity of what could happen if it all goes tits up, which of course, there is every chance it will do.

Garcia is joined by Tom “Redfly” Davis (Ben Affleck), brothers William “Ironhead” Miller (Charlie Hunnam) and Ben Miller (Garrett Hedlund), and Francisco “Catfish” Morales (Pedro Pascal).

The is a solid amount of brotherly love as well as chemistry which works incredibly well on screen. Back stories are to be believed and there is an air of intensity that hangs over the group, never quite knowing which way it is all going to go. The action is tight and well executed and the suspense is pretty much kept up all the way through the run time. If you’re a fan of the heist genre which avoids the slick, humorous elements of an Ocean’s Eleven, then this one is for you.
  
Ju-on: Origins
Ju-on: Origins
2020 | Horror, Mystery
8
6.5 (4 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
atmospheric (0 more)
Sometimes a bit hard to follow (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
Ju-on: Origins is the prequel to the original Ju-on The Grudge on Netflix.
The story mostly follows two story lines:
The first is of paranormal author, Yasuo Odajima and T.V. Hostess Haruka Honjo and follows Yasuo as he tires to find the cursed house to write about.
The second is Kiyomi Kawai who is taken to the house by two of her new classmates.
The series shows how curse of the house affects the two main characters but is also interspersed with snippets of the lives of other people who have lived in the house and flashbacks from the memories of other characters and, at times this can make the show a bit hard to follow.
Ju-on: Origins has an 'Amityville' vibe to it but more so, as in the original films the cures is not restricted to the house, meaning that, even if you get out you may not be safe.
The series is very atmospheric but , although there are ghosts it does focus more on the people who have lived in the house which makes this very grim in parts.
There was something familiar about some of the scenes in Ju-on: Origins, at least part of this is due to the original film, the scene where Kiyomi and her friends first go the house is slightly reminiscent of the school girl sequence in the first film although it does go in a different direction.
Now for some warnings. As i said Ju-on: Origins has some grim sequences. It's a Netflix series and, almost as soon as it went on (At least here in the UK) there were complaints about the auto start trailer which skirts around one of the main scenes which involves rape.
As well as rape there are murders (It makes 'American Horror Story; Haunted House' look tame) violence towards women, children, men (although i don't recall any animal abuse), sex and implied, possible incest so you have been warned
  
Buster's Mal Heart (2016)
Buster's Mal Heart (2016)
2016 | Mystery
Someone tell me what I just watched?!?
On the recommendation from a friend, I checked this film out on Netflix (I think it is available on Netflix UK also).

Before he recently won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek starred in this very unusual film about a guy who is either stranded out at sea on a one-person raft, running from the law after breaking in and stealing wealthy mansions for his own use or a married man working at a hotel with a wife and daughter. Or maybe all 3?

The character meets a paranoid man talking all about the "inversion" and Y2K (remember that?) which sends the man down a weird slope of cerebral? encounters throughout his various levels of existence.

The screenplay is so interesting that I want to sit in a room with writer/director Sarah Adina Smith to pick her brain just to make sure I either understand what I watched or if I am meant to. I have no issue with cerebral films like Donnie Darko, The Fountain, Under the Skin or Mulholland Drive. Since some of the film takes place in a hotel, I could see comparisons to shades of The Shining also.

It may take another viewing to let everything soak in or maybe I will pick up new things the next time around.

The look of the film is breathtaking with both beautiful outdoor landscapes, gorgeous mansions, and stuffy hotel lobbies.

I am ashamed to say I have not seen Bohemian Rhapsody yet, but based on this film alone Malek appears to be not only up and coming, but here to stay for a while and he deserves it. He was emotional and moving in this film so I am eager to see more of his work.

Please someone else watch this so we can discuss. I would love to hear your opinion!

  
40x40

Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Kingdom of Us (2017) in Movies

Oct 22, 2017 (Updated Oct 22, 2017)  
Kingdom of Us (2017)
Kingdom of Us (2017)
2017 | Biography, Documentary, Drama
Poignant, heartbreaking and complex
Another superb documentary film on Netflix exploring the complexities of bereavement, in this case, a family of seven children and their father who took his own life.

The filmmaker follows the journey of the Shanks children, now teenagers and young adults, who six years later are still trying to make sense of their loss. Issues include mental health problems, and dealing with trauma especially with four of the teens suffering from autism. Each person deals with it differently, ranging from creating music, becoming philosophical, to having a full-blown nervous breakdown.

Mother Vikie is incredibly stoic, attempting to keep order despite the horrendous upheaval from the death. There's some disturbing scenes in which the children discuss finding a note in which their father had originally planned to kill them before committing suicide. It is heartbreaking to watch how it has both scarred and shaped the family, but they courageously attempt to pull together as one unit. A must-watch documentary.
  
The Ranch  - Season 1
The Ranch - Season 1
2016 | Comedy
Acting, one liners, humor (0 more)
Laughing track, rocky start (0 more)
One of the best sitcoms out!
Bad- there was only one part where I felt like the beginning jokes were forced but after that it was pure gold. Same with the laughing tracks, most if not near all sitcoms use em but at first again it seemed like the tracks were being forced to make the joke funny. But I quickly ignored it and didn't notice after a while.

Good- where to begin? Ill start with the cast. Between Sam Elliott and Danny and Ashton's chemistry, there is so much to go off of. The humor that the show is able to get away with because it being on Netflix really fits and doesn't take away from the show like one might think. The style of the show (western) is a perfect match, even the music adds a certain degree of feeling to the show.
  
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
2017 | Biography, Crime, Documentary
Great documentary film (7 more)
Netflix
True Story
From family point of view
Real people not actors
Plays the original tapes recorded
Lasts 1hr half
Amazing if like true crime programmes
Not for the people who are anxious or nervous about things (1 more)
Appeals to certain people not for everyone
Abducted in Plain Sight
I sat down on Friday night and watched this documentary. From a dubious position, my wife wanted to watch it and i had doubts.
Was so good. Obviously its not everyones cup of tea but the way the story pans out is amazing. And if it wasnt true story it would be too far-fetched to make up a story like this.
I would seriously recommend this to anybody that likes true life crime movies and programmes.
I feel so sorry for this family and i would never spoiler any film as it would ruin and alter the vision experience you recieve
  
How It Ends (2018)
How It Ends (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
The end of the world is the only thing that would make me go on a road trip with my father-in-law!
This Netflix original film revolves around the story of a mysterious cataclysmic event on the East coast of America, and a husband trying to travel home to ensure his pregnant wife's safety. He travels with her father (who he does not get on with) as they try to drive across the country.
The film focuses on their relationship and how very different their backgrounds are, but they soon start to bond over their main shared love - his wife / his daughter.
There are some good action scenes which stick to the theme of the film - human civilisation going to pot and everyone out for himself; and strength versus apparent weakness.
The ending of the film seemed a little abrupt, and unsatisfying. Ironically, given the name of the film, my wife fell asleep so doesn't know "how it ends".