I have always wanted to watch Speed, that 90s hit action movie starring Keanu Reeves as a young police officer. One tasked with preventing a bomb aboard a city bus from exploding if only he could keep it moving at 50 miles per hour or above.
Directed by Jan de Bont and also starring Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper and Jeff Daniels, I found Speed watchable at best. By the end, I wondered if I’d have enjoyed it more had I seen it around the original release date. It’s also likely that Speed just isn’t my favourite kind of action movie/thriller. Whatever the answer, I did appreciate the pace and the handful of clever story elements.
As for my favourite thing about Speed? That has to bewatching a young Keanu Reeves doing a good job in a relatively early role, of course.
If you have not already seen it, and you’re curious enough, you know what to do.
I’m glad that Sandra Bullock said yes toThe Unforgivable, a well-executed tale of one woman’s journey to reconnect with her sister after finishing a twenty-year prison sentence.
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, what stood out immediately, in addition to the excellent performances, is how engaging the story is. I cared about Bullock’s character and couldn’t wait for everything to unfold. At the same time, the pacing and story edit are both so good to the point where I hardly found myself wanting things to move faster.
Then there’s the perfectly complementary musical score and the kind of tense moments that never have one too sure about how things will unfold.
Even though there is one moment where I felt the catalyst that was supposed to lead to a key character’s change of heart was insubstantial, The Unforgivable is still worth watching.
See it for the generally well-executed story and because Viola Davis, Rob Morgan, Vincent D’Onofrio and Jon Bernthal make up the supporting cast.
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt; The Unforgivable has Sandra Bullock as Ruth Slater, the perpetrator of a violent crime who’s just been released from prison
Sandy B. (I’ve heard Chris ‘Captain America’ Evans refer to her this way) looks incredible in this. I’m ready to watch her and all the movie powerhouses (Viola Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio and Jon Bernthal) flex their acting muscles in this story; the kind where a happy ending seems unlikely. But maybe the start of healing is what we’ll get.
I’ve missed Sandy B. So glad she’s back at her best.
Aisling Franciosi, Richard Thomas, W. Earl Brown, Linda Emond, Tom Guiry, Rob Morgan, Emma Nelson and Jessica McLeod also star.
Knowing my history with Netflix movies and how I’ve found the vast majority to be quite disappointing, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel after Bird Box. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed director Susan Bier’s post apocalyptic sci-fi thriller more than I expected to.
Intrigued by the story of how a woman and two children were going to escape the mysterious force that compels all who see it to kill themselves right away, I couldn’t wait to see how the characters would survive. Especially since they have to be blindfolded when outside.
As soon as the opening scene in Bird Box started to play, I had a good feeling because of how the scene immediately held my undivided attention. Even though en route to the final scenes of Bird Box, there were some very engaging, ‘edge of your seat,’ suspenseful moments, my favourite part of Bird Box is without a doubt the last thirty minutes. For it is the scenes when the key characters are truly most vulnerable, and endless near-disasters are happening one after the other.
Similar to 2017’s A Quiet Place, Bird Box will likely have you thinking about parenthood and the gargantuan undertaking that it truly is. I enjoyed leading actor Sandra Bullock’s performance, plus the moments in the story that moved, thrilled and surprised me.
As for the parts of Bird Box I wish weren’t quite so, those would include approximately thirty minutes into the film when, instead of being fully engaged, I found myself distracted by the fact that I hadn’t seen the ‘monster’ yet and I really wanted to. Secondly, I think there were too many characters ‘in the house;’ one or two of whom proved quite annoying. There were also others that seemed like props who were just there to play their relatively small parts just to move the story along and sometimes provide a fast thrilling moment.
Thirdly, I understand the reason for the ‘flashback and back to present day’ editing choice. However, it hurt the flow of the story and subsequently had me wondering how different it could all have been if everything had played out in regular order.
Overall, I say give Bird Box a chance because it has some great moments, and for me personally, it’s an improvement on the last few Netflix movies I saw, and some I tried to watch but had to abandon.
In new sci-fi/thriller Bird Box, after a mysterious force decimates the world’s population, only one thing is certain: if you see it, you take your own life. And so begins the journey of a woman and two children who make their way through a dystopian setting along a river while blindfolded.
Directed by Susanne Bier; key cast includes Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar and Trevante Rhodes.
Let’s start with ‘Hello, great trailer!
Right away, I like that this reminds me a little of A Quiet Place (2017). May it please be equally thrilling, if not more so.
I also rather like the combination of Bullock and Paulson in one movie.
Lil Rel howery, Jacki Weaver, Machine Gun Kelly, Parminder Nagra, John Malkovich and David Dastmalchian also star.
The Movie My Life 