Tag Archives: Octavia Spencer

Action, Adventure, Comedy, No Spoiler Reviews

THUNDER FORCE (2021): It’s…

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Thunder Force (2021), Melissa McCarthy, Netflix
Thunder Force (2021), Melissa McCarthy, Netflix

Bridesmaids (2011), This Is 40 (2012) and Spy (2015) are my three favourite Melissa McCarthy movies. The Heat (2013), Tammy (2014) and The Boss (2016) are the ones I found most disappointing. 

The not-so-great news is that McCarthy’s latest Ben Falcone-written/directed comedy/action/adventure Thunder Force falls firmly at the bottom of the latter category.  

I honestly tried my very best to give Thunder Force, the story of estranged childhood best friends reuniting and ending up with superpowers a fair chance. It’s just unfortunate that the writing and pacing left me desperately wanting. 

What makes it worse is that I wasn’t even tired when I hit play to watch a hopefully fun comedy in the afternoon. Yet, twenty minutes in, I awoke from a rather pleasant impromptu nap. A situation I had feared might occur, especially after an unnecessarily long and unfunny exchange about salmon and a rock near the start of the movie. Nevertheless, I held on in desperate hope that things might turn around at any moment.

Things did not get better, not even a little bit. As such, after giving the movie one very last try, only to find myself waking up from my second nap in half an hour, I had to put an end to the madness.

Looking back, the most memorable parts of Thunder Force include the one brief moment involving rabbit-like teeth. And the other is the presence of Pom Klementieff as Laser. 

Thunder Force is a film you watch only if you absolutely must, because as a McCarthy fan, you’re much better off revisiting the first three movies I mentioned at the start of this post.

Happy Film Loving,

G

Action, Adventure, Comedy

THUNDER FORCE (2021): New Trailer From Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Jason Bateman, Ben Falcone…

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Thunder Force (2021), Octavia Spencer, Melissa McCarthy, Netflix
Thunder Force (2021), Octavia Spencer, Melissa McCarthy, Netflix

Read my spoiler-free movie review of  Thunder Force (2021).

New action/fantasy Thunder Force stars Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Jason Bateman and Bobby Cannavale.

Written/directed by Ben Falcone; Spencer and McCarthy play two estranged childhood best friends who reunite after one devises a treatment that ends up giving both of them super powers.

My fingers are crossed that Thunder Force is one of those McCarthy movies that I really enjoy; rather than the variety I have to stop watching within 15 minutes.

There must be hope because I find myself very amused by the vision of McCarthy’s Lydia taking the rapid breaths at 0:51 in this trailer. Also, there’s the inclusion of Bateman, plus the chemistry between the two ladies that intrigues me.

Shane Berengue, Tyrel Jackson Williams, Sarah Baker, Melissa Ponzio, Braxton Bjerken, Trevor Larcom, Patrick R. Walker, Marcella Lowery and Taylor Mosby also star.

Thunder Force Release Dates: April 9th, 2021, (US), Netflix…

Happy Film Loving,

G

Adventure, Comedy, Family, No Spoiler Reviews

THE WITCHES (2020), The Things I Liked…

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The Witches (2020), Anne Hathaway, Warner Bros. Pictures
The Witches (2020), Anne Hathaway, Warner Bros. Pictures

Director Robert Zemeckis’s remake of Roald Dahl’s adventure/comedy classic The Witches promised a scary, funny and imaginative tale. One about a seven-year-old boy who has a run-in with some real-life witches.

Instead, ‘OK’ is the best I can say about the film. Anne Hathaway’s performance as the main witch wasn’t bad and I liked some of the special effects. Nevertheless, there’s a certain simplicity in the story execution that left me uninspired and dissatisfied.

In fairness, The Witches is based on a famous children’s book. So, naturally, I wasn’t expecting a sophisticated adult tale. Yet, I still hoped to feel more pleased to have watched it than I did.

Luckily, I managed to find parts of the movie that stood out to me in a good way. For example, the above perfectly infectious smile on Anne Hathaway’s face, Chris Rock’s fun voice/narration, the ‘comforted’ feeling I experienced once Octavia Spencer’s loving grandma character showed up. I also enjoyed the musical score and the wonderfully suspenseful scene that involves the task of getting the potion into the pea soup. A moment that took me right back to my favourite Disney Pixar movie, Ratatouille (2007). Lastly, there’s the very pleasantly dramatic dining scene that follows the pea soup ‘flavouring’ incident.

Overall, it’s ultimately the relationship between grandma and grandson that I loved most about The Witches. It’s just a shame that I didn’t find the film as a whole to be as satisfying as my favourite scenes in it.

Give The Witches a chance if you’re especially curious. Undoubtedly, it’s young children who will enjoy it most.

Happy Film Loving 

G

Adventure, Comedy, Family

THE WITCHES (2020): New Trailer From Robert Zemeckis, Starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Chris Rock…

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The Witches (2020), Anne Hathaway, Warner Bros. Pictures
The Witches (2020), Anne Hathaway, Warner Bros. Pictures

Read my spoiler-free movie review of  The Witches (2020).

Forrest Gump (1994) director Robert Zemeckis has a new film starring Anne Hathaway, Chris Rock, Octavia Spencer and Stanley Tucci.

Based on Roald Dahl’s 1983 classic book of the same name, The Witches, this one promises to be a scary, funny and imaginative tale of a seven year old boy who has a run in with some real life witches.

‘Festive fun’ is the vibe I get from this one. I love the cast and I’m excited about the special effects. Naturally, I’m not a fan of mice in real life, but when they’re not real, even I can find a way to appreciate them.

Codie-Lei Eastick, Charles Edwards, Morgana Robinson, Jahzir Bruno, Eugenia Caruso, Simon Manyonda, Jonathan Livingstone, Philippe Spall, Zeke Taylor, Eurydice El-Etr and Anna Devlin also star.

The Witches Release Dates: October 22nd, 2020 (US)…

Happy Film Loving

G

Adventure, Animation, Comedy, No Spoiler Reviews

ONWARD (2020): The Things I Liked…

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Onward (2019), Disney Pixar
Onward (2019), Disney Pixar

Onward is a movie with a beautiful big brother/little brother relationship at its heart. And this relationship is my favourite thing about the latest Disney Pixar animated adventure starring Chris pratt, Tom Holland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer.

Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers set off on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there. A quest that neither could do without the other. 

In terms of how much I enjoyed the story, I think Onward is OK. I wanted to have been more engrossed with it all but there wasn’t enough newness to it, theme wise. There wasn’t necessarily much animated cuteness either butI l doubt I’d have noticed that if I’d loved the way the story played from beginning to end. It’s really the last third of director Dan Scanlon’s film that I enjoyed most. Before then, I was more than a little impatient for the results of the film’s central magic spell to manifest.

Other things I enjoyed about Onward include the fullness of Holland’s character Ian’s blue hair and what Scanlon’s film has to say about belief in general – but especially self belief and confidence.

As far as animated movies about sibling relationships go, particularly the big brother/little brother dynamic, my favourite will probably always be Big Hero 6 (2014).

If you’re curious, watch Onward because it’s not bad, and perhaps, you’ll find even more to love than I did. 

Happy Film Loving,

G