Outlaw King is a new David Mackenzie directed historical drama about Robert the Bruce, the great 14th Century Scottish figure whose bravery and cunning defeated and repelled the much larger and better equipped occupying English army.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chris Pine, Florence Pugh and Billy Howle are among the key cast…
I’m quite interested because of Pine and Taylor-Johnson. I’m also happy to learn about Robert the Bruce. It also helps that I’m quite partial to a Scottish accent
Tony Curran, Alastair Mackenzie, Duncan Lacroix and Stephen Dillane also star.
I definitely enjoyed Skyscrapermuch more than I expected to and part of the reason is that I feel Dwayne Johnson acted well in his role as Will Ford; an assessor of the security of skyscrapers who finds himself framed when suddenly the safest building in the world is ablaze.
Written / directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, I liked the story, the pace and the fact that I was engaged throughout. The action sequences were thrilling which meant I had so much fun overall, that I maybe almost didn’t notice the unbelievability of the number of near death scenarios that Ford and his family seemed to conveniently escape.
Something I noticed as Skyscraper played is how much the young actors playing Ford’s kids looked like they could actually be Johnson’s children. I also noticed how little they looked like Ford’s wife (Neve Campbell). Lastly, I was surprised to find myself less annoyed by the instances of product placement than usual. In fact, I doubt that I can think of Skyscraper in the future without remembering the product in question.
In addition to thoroughly thrilling me, Skyscraper now has me wanting to visit Hong Kong even sooner than previously planned. Before you start worrying though, I promise I’m very much aware that The Pearl isn’t real.
Also starring Pablo Schreiber, Roland Møller and Chin Han; watch it for the thrills and so you can see how far Johnson has come as an Actor.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018), Lana Condor
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, the story of a teenage girl whose secret love letters to five crushes end up being delivered is not a bad movie.
Though Love Simon (2018)is still very much my favourite high school movie in a while, I liked how good director Susan Johnson’s filmwas at taking me back to that time when I too was a high schooler with an all consuming crush.
Besides the gift of reminiscing, I enjoyed seeing John Corbett in his role as a father to three daughters. I also definitely liked the look and design of the teenage protagonist’s bedroom – even though it’s not how I’d like my teenage room to look.
Overall, I’d say that To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is an adequately entertaining movie that felt very teenage. This is probably why my non-teenage self found some of the mistakes the teenagers in the movie made, quite frustrating to watch.
Lead by Lana Condor, the entire cast did a good job and I’m not that mad at the end result.
You’ll likely guess how things will play out soon after the film starts but I say watch it anyway. Especially if reminiscing about high school won’t hurt. And definitely watch it if you’re in high school. I’d probably have loved it more if I’d been in high school when this movie came out.
Written / directed by Matthew Cooke, Survivor’s Guide To Prison does cover some truths I was already aware of, thanks to a few TV shows and movies I’ve seen. It also opened my eyes to new facts I hadn’t even thought about. New truths presented by and featuring people of various backgrounds who have valuable inside knowledge about how things often work from the moment you’re arrested through to prison, guilty or not.
As expected, ‘depressing’ is the word for the truth that’s presented in Survivor’s Guide To Prison. You’ll probably need some strength and faith (as I did) to make it to the hopeful bit towards the end. The bit where Cooke’s film shows us that as messed up as the system is and my goodness, it really, really is messed up – specially if you’re a person of colour and not rich; necessary change is possible and though seemingly very slow, change is happening.
When the end of the assault on my faith in humanity finally came, besides wanting change to come much, MUCH sooner, I wished that Survivor’s Guide To Prison showed more examples of organisations and people who are doing all they can to affect change. That likely would have made me feel that little bit more hopeful.
If the message wasn’t already clear, watch it because the stories are compelling and because then you’ll have the knowledge which you’ll hopefully never personally need – like insurance but better.
On Chesil Beach (2017), Billy Howle, Saoirse Ronan
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emily Watson, Billy Howle and Ann-Marie Duff, I’m glad I made it to the end of On Chesil Beach. Though a seemingly slow-moving story, I didn’t completely hate watching life unfold for a young couple whose idyllic romance in 1962 England collides with issues of sexual freedom, societal pressure and more.
The romance at the heart of the story is pleasant enough but when I think of On Chesil Beach, whatI’ll first recall is the gorgeous blue hue of Ronan’s beach outfit. Besides that, I’ll remember director Dominic Cooke’s movie becauseit had me thinking about two key topics that have always intrigued me. The first one being effective communication, which sadly isn’t always possible when in the heat of the moment – and as a result can lead to some fairly unfortunate circumstances. The second and most heartbreaking subject is that of how a toxic parent child relationship can negatively affect the child’s life, particularly when truth and / or reconciliation plus therapy don’t happen.
Overall, I don’t think ‘enjoyed’ is quite the right word for how I feel about this movie. The performances were good even though it took me a few minutes to stop seeing Cillian Murphy in Howle’s role – not that Howle did a bad job, mind you.
Overall, On Chesil Beach is a film I watched that I neither loved nor hated. I guess the value of it for me personally is in all the thinking it had me doing about effective communication and toxic parent child relationships. And yes,, that gorgeous beach outfit blue.
See it if you’r so curious. Just remember, it’s definitely heartbreaking.
Green Book (2018), Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali
Green Book is a 1960s set story of the friendship between a working-class Italian-American bouncer who becomes the driver of an African-American classical pianist.
Directed by Peter Farrelly; key cast includes Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini…
The dynamic of this clearly great friendship reminds me so much ofThe Intouchables (2011). I’m in for this reason, the beautifully edited trailer and the brilliant cast.
Don Stark, P.J. Byrne, Iqbal Theba, Brian Stepanek and Sebastian Maniscalco also star.
What Men Want is a new comedy / fantasy / romance about a woman who gains an unexpected edge over her male sports agent colleagues when she develops the ability to hear their thoughts.
Directed by Adam Shankman; key cast includes Taraji P. Henson, Max Greenfield, Tracy Morgan, Wendi McLendon-Covey…
I remember watching and liking What Women Want(2000) starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. So I actually can’t wait to see how this version will play out. So far, I have zero complaints about the trailer.
Additional cast includes Erikah Badu, Aldis Hodge, Deja Dee, Tamala Jones and Chris Witaske.
Like Father, a Netflix comedy / drama about a workaholic woman who goes on her honeymoon with her father after being ditched at the alter is a good movie.
Directed and co-written by Lauren Miller Rogen, I particularly enjoyed the writing and not just because I found the script funny. Whilst simultaneously moving and amusing me, Like Father did a good job of portraying an example of a challenging father / daughter relationship. The story alsohelped confirm some of the necessary elements for any kind of reconciliation to even be possible.
If I had to choose, my overall favourite moment in Miller’s movie is the fun Newlywed / honeymooners game. Like father really helped further solidify my general ‘deep like’ for Bell I also love that Like Father reminded me of the beautiful bass of KelseyGrammer’s voice.
Watch this one if the story intrigues you and especially if you like the cast. As you do that, I’m going to take a few moments to consider when my next New York trip might be. I may alsobegin to plan my Royal Caribbean Cruise itinerary; just a couple of possible side effects of watching this movie.
