Tag Archives: Sam Worthington

Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi

AVATAR – FIRE AND ASH (2025): New Trailer From James Cameron, Starring Zoe Saldaña, Kate Winslet, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi…

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The third instalment of director James Cameron’s Avatar films, Avatar – Fire and Ash has arrived.

Starring Giovanni Ribisi, Kate Winslet, Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver, the conflict on Pandora escalates as a new aggressive Na’vi tribe encounters Jake and Neytiri’s family, resulting in a new moral focus.

The generally impressive visuals aside, I thought I’d be more enthused by the latest Avatar trailer. However, as this trailer played, the main thing that grabbed my attention was the words from 2:08 minutes at the end.

Since I still haven’t seen Avatar – The Way of Water, perhaps I’m missing things that those who have seen it find especially exciting about this first trailer release.

How do you feel about the above two minutes and 25 seconds?

David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement, Oona Chaplin, Sam Worthington, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Stephen Lang, Jack Champion and Joel David Moore also star.

Avatar – Fire and Ash Release Dates: December 19th, 2025 (US & UK)…

Happy Film Loving,

G

Action, Comedy, Crime, No Spoiler Reviews

LIFT (2024): The Things I Liked…

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Director F. Gary Gray’s latest action/crime/comedy, Lift, which stars Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sam Worthington, is the kind of film I watched in two different ways. 

I watched the first half of Lift while simultaneously busying myself on my phone. It’s likely that I would have been okay with continuing to multitask as the movie played, and just considered the film my ‘downtime’ and categorised it as ‘easy viewing.’ However, writer Daniel Kunka’s story about an expert thief and an intriguing plot to steal $500 million in gold bullion from a moving plane became much more engaging once the key characters were on the flight and doing ‘the job.’

Lift (2024), Yun Jee Kim, Billy Magnussen, Úrsula Corberó, Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D’Onofrio, Netflix

The second half is when much of the cleverness and fun begins. Before then, Lift felt like plenty of set-up that isn’t particularly new. As such, one can get away with only half-watching. 

What just occurred to me right now is that the action sequences in Lift are not quite as memorable after the fact, even though they were engaging as they happened. It’s no wonder that my favourite moment in Lift is the funny, perfectly acted scene featuring air traffic control’s Harry (David Proud).’ ’Poor Sandra’ (Caroline Loncq) is all I have to say about that.

Give Lift a chance if you’re curious. It’s not the best, but perhaps it’s worth a try for that second half.

Vincent D’Onofrio, Billy Magnussen, Yun Jee Kim, Úrsula Corberó, Jean Reno, Viveik Kalra, Burn Gorman and Martina Avogadri also star.

Happy Film Loving

G

Action, Adventure, Fantasy, No Spoiler Reviews

AVATAR (2009): The Thing I Missed…

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I wasn’t sure what to expect when I decided to re-watch Avatar (2009), writer/director James Cameron’s action/adventure/fantasy about a paraplegic Marine dispatched on a unique mission to the moon Pandora.

Perhaps even more so than the impressive special effects Avatar is most known for, I particularly remember how strongly Cameron’s film reminded me of how easily evil wins when those who oppose it do nothing. And post second viewing, I can confirm that said message still rings clearly for me today. I mean, it is a recurrent theme in the human experience.

There is one other thing that stood out ever so clearly to me this time around. And it’s something that barely registered back in 2009, Zoe Saldana’s emotional performance as Neytiri. The visuals must have been too stunning for me to notice her contribution the first time around. But, as they say, better late than never, right? I certainly have a brand new respect for Saldana as an actor now.

As cliché as some feel the Avatar story is, for me, the thought never crossed my mind as I took in the movie. Perhaps I was too engaged with all the arresting audio-visual events happening before my eyes at the time. Whatever the case, I’m glad Avatar exists, and I was here to watch, even if Avatar may not end up in my list of top ten favourite movies.

I’m sure that by now, several of you have already re-watched Avatar and the follow-up Avatar – The Way of Water. And based on what many have said, both films are as impressive and epic as James Cameron movies are known to be. I’ll likely agree with this sentiment when I finally see The Way of Water. I wonder what I’ll miss and only notice when I watch it again several years later. 

Did you also rewatch Avatar before the new release? And if so, how do you feel upon second viewing? Perhaps you also missed something the first time around.

Happy Film Loving,

G

Action, Adventure, Fantasy

AVATAR – THE WAY OF WATER (2022): New Trailer From James Cameron, Starring Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Kate Winslet, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi…

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Director James Cameron is properly back with the finished sequel to Avatar (2009).

Avatar – The Way of Water is set more than ten years after the events of the first film. Planet Pandora is under attack once more. And Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), plus his new-found family must do everything possible to keep each other safe.

Zoe Saldana, Kate Winslet, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Giovanni Ribisi are among the key cast.

To watch or not to watch Avatar – The Way of Water? Doesn’t that sound like the silliest question to ask a movie enthusiast? The answer is both yes and no. The former is true because all James Cameron movies are an event. A truth that arguably applies to him more than most.

Even though I may not be in the mood to watch a film about a family fighting for survival by the time this is released, I would be doing myself a disservice as a dedicated movie enthusiast by not watching it. Especially considering how impressive I found Avatar to be.

The reason the above question is not the silliest is this: No one thing is ever really loved by all, and that is the way of the human.

I’m curious, how highly anticipated is Avatar – The Way of Water for you? I haven’t been as excited as I ought to be because of all the release delays over the years. Yet, something tells me that will all change once the opening credits begin.

Jemaine Clement, Bailey Bass, Edie Falco, Joel David Moore, Chloe Coleman, Jack Champion, Cliff Curtis, Jamie Flatters, CCH Pounder, Britain Dalton, Matt Gerald and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss also star.

Avatar – The Way of Water Release Dates: December 16th, 2022 (US & UK)…

Happy Film Loving,

G

No Spoiler Reviews, Thriller

FRACTURED (2019): The Things I Liked…

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Fractured (2019), Same Worthington, Netflix
Fractured (2019), Same Worthington, Netflix

Directed by Brad Anderson, new Netflix thriller Fractured follows a father (Sam Worthington) who’s desperate to find his wife and daughter after he takes them to a hospital following an accident; only for the hospital to deny hours later that they’d ever seen his family. 

Also starring Lily Rabe and Stephen Tobolowsky, without giving anything away, the best thing to say about Anderson’s film is that it’s dark, and the compelling premise ultimately delivers on the trailer’s promise.

Part of what made Fractured interesting to watch and also a tad frustrating is that throughout the film, clues are provided that made me think I finally know exactly what’s going on – but then something equally convincing happens that forces me to reevaluate my conclusions.

Overall, I enjoyed Anderson’s film more after things picked up past the halfway point. I just wish that it didn’t bring out my impatience during the first half, as I longed for the story to pick up and give me more clues so I could figure things out. 

Random fact, I’m guilty of enjoying the simultaneously chilling and moving end credit music so much that I definitely kept rewinding so I could write this entire review as it played in the background.

Watch Fractured if you’re curious. It gets better as the story goes on and Worthington is good.

Happy Film Loving, 

G