Saturday, April 11, 2020
Before I Fall (2017)
February 12 is just another day in Sam's charmed life, until it turns out to be her last. Stuck reliving her last day over and over, Sam untangles the mystery around her death and discovers everything she's losing.
Above-average Groundhog Day-like movie that starts off as a teenager high school drama, but gets darker and more serious with each repeating of the premise story; good performance by Zoey Deutch.
Friday, April 10, 2020
The Thing (2011)
At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between a graduate student and a scientist.
OK prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing (which was in itself a remake) that tries to surpass it's counterpart with gory special effects: the result making it appear superfluous.
On rewatching: OK for what it is -and if you can appreciate the gore.
Maltin**: "Conceived as a prequel to the 1982 version, this isn't completely unsuccessful, but the plentiful CGI visual effects can't compare to the graphic horrors of the '82 movie."
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Hostile (2017)
A lone survivor of an apocalyptic era, fights to survive against hunger, thirst, a broken leg and strange, disturbing creatures that only come out at nighttime.
Watchable, but predictable post-apocalyptic drama does have some suspense, but is otherwise not quite remarkable.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
The Curse of Sleeping Beauty (2016)
A young man unexpectedly inherits a property with a mysterious curse.
After a promising first scene this silly horror /fairy tale mashup simply dies off into he realm of forget it.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
First Lines: John le Carré - A Most Wanted Man
A Turkish heavyweight boxing champion sauntering down a Hamburg street with his mother on his arm can scarcely be blamed for failing to notice that he is being shadowed by a skinny boy in a black coat.
Monday, April 6, 2020
Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank (2016)
During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Basically well-staged with a good cast, but, in comparison to other adaptations, lacks intensity and emotional impact.
Sunday, April 5, 2020
The Ones Below (2015)
A couple expecting their first child discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below them who are also having a baby.
Above-average psychological thriller mildly builds up tension and irritation, but is rather predictable.
Rise of the Warrior Apes (2017)
For more than 20 years anthropologists have been researching the social behavior of a chimpanzee clan in Uganda's Kibale National Park.
Intense, surprising, often shocking longtime analysis of Chimpanzee social behaviour and its remarkable similarities to human societies, although it is at times a bit lurid for a documentary.
