Based on creator Timothée Hochet’s French series of the same name, Calls is a new show that tells the mysterious story of a group of strangers who’s lives are thrown into disarray, in the lead-up to an apocalyptic event.
Told through real-life audio sources and minimal visuals, Calls stars Pedro Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Lily Collins, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Aubrey Plaza.
I’ll give this a chance to find out if it actually works. Because something tells me I might miss seeing the person/people on at least one side of the conversation.
Remember Tom Hardy’s very impressive Locke (2013); when we could see his character but only hear the people he was speaking to on the phone; yet it worked perfectly? Perhaps this too will surprise us all and exceed all expectations.
Directed by Fede Álvarez; additional key cast includes Nick Jonas, Jennifer Tilly, Ben Schwartz, Jaeden Martell, Riley Keough and Joey King.
Triple Frontier (2019), Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck
Directed by J.C. Chandor; Triple Frontier stars Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck, Pedro Pascal, Garrett Hedlund and Oscar Isaac.
This one is an action / adventure where five former Special Forces operatives plan a heist in a sparsely populated multi-border zone of South America. A major heist that turns into an epic battle for survival…
Seeing the hurt in Isaac’s character’s eyes, I wonder how much sympathy these guys are going to get out of me. Either way, I’m hoping for a thrilling adventure and with a cast like this, the chances should be good.
Adria Arjona, Sheila Vand and Reynaldo Gallegos also star.
InThe Equaliser 2, Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall is, as aways more than ready to serve up an unflinching justice in the name of the exploited and oppressed. Since in director Antoine Fuqua’s sequel, one of the oppressed happens to be someone McCall loves dearly, he wastes no time in setting up a series of smart manoeuvres that prove arguably as thrilling and unexpected as in the first movie, The Equalizer (2014).
With a well-chosen supporting cast that includes Ashton Sanders (Moonlight 2016), Pedro Pascal and Melissa Leo, I particularly enjoyed the dynamic and chemistry between Denzel and Pascal’s characters. My favourite of the most thrilling moments involves the ‘panic room’ scene. A scene that was almost too intense and suspenseful for my little thriller loving heart to bear.
What unfortunately ensures that The Equaliser 2 is not quite as memorable as the first movie includes the fact that it’s a sequel and therefore has the element of familiarity strongly fighting against it. The other reason for me personally is how the beginning portion of the film felt a little disconnected from the rest of it.
Overall, I say there’s still enough good stuff going on to make The Equaliser 2 a worthy movie. You will certainly be thrilled, moved and possibly find yourself feeling lucky and grateful, especially for all the good, helpful people you’re knowingly and unknowingly connected to.
If Beale Street Could Talk is the latest from Moonight 2016 director Barry Jenkins and the story of a Harlem based woman desperately scrambling to prove her fiancé innocent of a crime, while carrying their first child.
Based on the book of the same name by American novelist and social critic James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk stars Stephan James, Regina King, KiKi Layne, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein…
I didn’t fully understand the significance of the title of this movie until I read the synopsis. I doubt there could have been a more perfect title.
As for the story, it would be great for it to end well, but considering the period in American history that it’s set, the chances aren’t great. Nevertheless, how beautiful is it that this trailer was released on Baldwin’s birthday, August 2nd.
Dave Franco, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris and Aunjanue Ellis also star.
In new crime / thriller The Equalizer 2, Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall, a man more than ready to serve an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, other key cast includes Pedro Pascal,Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman…
I had so much fun watching the first movie – and it looks like this one has more than enough of the all the things I loved.
Jonathan Scarfe, Sakina Jaffrey and Ashton Sanders also star.
Kingsman – The Golden Circle (2017), Taron Egerton, Mark Strong
This isprobably unsurprising since Kingsman – The Golden Circleis a sequel but I did not enjoy this movie as much as the original. In director Matthew Vaughn’s sequel, the Kingsman head offices are blown up and the kingsmen must team up with an allied spy organisation in the US.
Not that Kingsman – The Secret Service (2014)was super realistic, but something about this follow-up felt quite ridiculous. Starting with the opening scene; somehow it just didn’t feel as thrilling as I’d ordinarily expect. Part of the problem is that I found myself immediately disappointed with the story’s choice of villain, the one we meet in the first few minutes. There’s also the fact that everything happened so suddenly in the first few minutes, whereas I somehow wanted or perhaps expected to be eased into the action, as odd as that may sound.
This movie has one or two fight sequences that harked back to the first film. These scenes played a little too ‘the same’, for my liking. In this way they reminded me of part of the reason why Quantum Of Solace (2008) was such a terrible follow-up to the brilliant Casino Royale (2006). It tried too hard to almost repeat so much of what worked so very well in the first movie.
As for the matter of the main villain of vaughn’s movie, let’s just say that I have officially found a Julianne Moore performance I do not like. In the role of the villain, I did not fully buy into her evil. Is her face simply far too angelic for the kind of evil required? Maybe. What I know for sure is that I didn’t see it in her eyes or feel it through her words and I needed to.
Luckily, there is some good news here; namely the beautifully executed ‘singing scene’ towards the end. I was moved. Overall though, my favourite scene in this film has to be the ‘infiltration’ of Poppy’s compound. That’s the moment I saw a fight scene that truly felt as though it belonged to Kingsman – The Golden Circle. Rather than something borrowed from Kingsman – The Secret Service and as a result, felt quite tedious.
Kingsman – The Golden Circle (2017), Taron Egerton
In Kingsman – The Golden Circle, the Kingsman headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage. Upon discovering an allied spy organization in the US. The two elite secret organisations must work together to defeat a common enemy…
Before the First Kingsman movie, Kingsman – The Secret Service, I mostly knew the film’s director Matthew Vaughn as an excellent producer to one of my favourite British directors, Guy Ritchie.Look at him now! I can’t wait to see what looks yet another very welcome and thrilling festival of style, action and adventure.
I don’t actually recall how things were left with Sofia Boutella’s very cool ‘Gazelle’ character in the first movie, but my hope is that this new instalment will be so good that I barely miss her, if at all.
The Movie My Life 