Netflix Archives - Page 4 of 8

8 September 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Kate’ has a killer premise that you have definitely seen before

I am, if I am totally honest, not even sure where to begin. Kate, the upcoming action film from Netflix, has a killer lead actress, a killer premise, looks gorgeous and falls entirely flat at every turn. If it were not for some stylistic flourishes –which are problematic in their own right– I don’t know if I’d have anything nice to say about it.

6 September 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Worth’ is worth seeing for Michael Keaton alone

It’s hard to believe that the September 11th attacks were 20 years ago this month. It was an event that scarred the American psyche and that the country has been trying to reckon with through art ever since. We remember vividly things, such as the images of debris-covered civilians fleeing the scene or the American flag hanging over the ruins. There are things we don’t remember so well also, though, such as the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund which was created by an act of Congress just days after the attacks with an end goal of stopping the victims from suing the airlines involved.

Worth tells the story of Ken Feinberg and the administration of that fund, from its inception through the struggles to bring all the victims families on board and to its final resolution and payout to nearly 97% of them. If this sounds like it’s a little dry, well, you’re not entirely wrong.

8 August 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Beckett’ is a paranoid thriller that works despite itself

An interesting thing that happens –or perhaps more accurately doesn’t happen– in Beckett is that when it comes time to be an action star, the title character simply isn’t one. Neither superhuman nor particularly competent, Beckett, played by John David Washington in a role that asks him to carry an entire movie, is just a guy on the run and doesn’t have any dark past, specialized training, or even a penchant for 80s action movies. That, in and of itself, is a little refreshing.

The film itself, though –a stylistic throwback to the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s– only works despite itself. Gorgeously shot, decently acted, but overlong and simple to a fault, this is one on which your mileage will definitely vary.

8 August 202117 January 2022

Awesome Friday Movie Podcast Episode 4: ‘Vivo’ & ‘The Suicide Squad’

Awesome Friday Podcast Vivo & The Suicide Squad

Greetings programs, it’s Awesome Friday on a Sunday, which means we’re back with another episode of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast!

Join us this week as we discuss two new movies. First up is the new Sony Pictures Animation film Vivo, which features the voice, and songs, of Lin-Manuel Miranda and was released to Netflix this week. Second up is James Gunn’s triumphant return to superhero movies; the Warner Brothers and DC released The Suicide Squad, now in theatres (and on HBO Max in the United States).

4 August 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Vivo’ starts strong, ends less strong, and lags in the middle

The basic premise of Vivo is both simple and heartfelt: A kinkajou goes on a quest to deliver a love letter from his father figure to his father figures long lost love. That’s it, that’s the whole pitch, and if you pack the cast with talented actors and singers and hire a nearly-EGOT-winning songwriter to turn the whole thing into a musical, that’s a recipe for something special. Most of the time, anyway.

That’s not to say that Vivo is bad; exactly, it’s just fine. It opens with a toe-tapping duet that will stick in your head for ages and closes with a reprise of the same, but there’s a long stretch in the middle where the film takes no exactly no chances and suffers for it.

30 July 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Last Mercenary’ misses the mark

Action movies aren’t a genre that has ever let the age of their stars get in the way of a good time. If you do things right, you can have aged men play all kinds of characters. The Last Mercenary seems intent on pushing that idea to the limit by casting a 60-year-old Jean-Claude Van Damme as a mysterious spy returned from the cold to rescue his wayward son.

It also seems intent on being as over the top silly as it can be, with Van Damme’s character –dubbed “The Mist” because it’s there, but you can’t touch it– being a master of disguise, a master of proverbs, and hyper-competent at basically everything while also making all the most ridiculous choices.

Does it work though? Well… no, not really.

25 July 202117 January 2022

Awesome Friday Movie Podcast Episode 2: ‘Blood Red Sky’ & ‘Settlers’

Awesome Friday Podcast Blood Red Sky & Settlers

Greetings programs! We’re back for the second week in a row with a new episode. Rejoice!

22 July 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Last Letter from Your Lover’ is a lovely, if predictable, romance story

Picture this: in the present, a young journalist discovers a series of love letters. They were written between a married woman and her paramour in the 1960s, and they tell of a passionate but star crossed affair. Naturally, the journalist searches for more of the letters and, eventually, finds love of her own.

This is the plot of The Last Letter From Your Lover. It isn’t entirely original, but it is a pretty good version of this kind of story.

21 July 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Blood Red Sky’ isn’t quite the film it could be, but is still fun

An ill woman and her son are on a plane to New York. Awaiting them, a doctor with an array of ultramodern medical technology will give them the best chance to cure her ailment. Her plane is then, of course, hijacked. All of this is a slow build to a reveal that you can see coming from a mile off her ailment isn’t an ailment; she’s a vampire trying desperately to suppress the monster within, and the hijackers are about to find out that they aren’t in the movie they thought they were in.

16 July 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Fear Street Part Three: 1666’ is an uneven, but still satisfying, end to the trilogy

As with most trilogies, the wrap up can be difficult. In this case, a great many story threads have to be wrapped up from two different time frames, and the film does so by diving into the past and the origin of the curse that haunts Shadyside.

The result is that Part Three: 1666 has the most responsibility of the three films, and strains a little bit under that weight.

Note: This review contains minor spoilers for Fear Street Part One: 1994 and Fear Street Part Two: 1978, both of which you should definitely watch before you watch this. It will also contain what might be considered minor spoilers for this film, so if you want to go in blind, let it be known that while I think this is the weakest of the three films, I still liked it and think you will too.

7 July 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Fear Street Part Two: 1978’ turns to Friday the 13th for inspiration, is another fun riff on the slasher genre

If Fear Street Part One: 1994 made it seem like director Leigh Janiak was infatuated with 90s slashers, then Part Two: 1978 should make it clear that’s not the case. Director Leigh Janiak is infatuated with slashers, full stop. Throwing back all the way to Friday the 13th, 1978‘s main story takes place at a summer camp with a plaid jacket wearing brute murdering teens with an axe. And you know what? It might be better than the last one.

30 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Fear Street Part One: 1994’ is a superfun, 90s inspired teen slasher

There are many things you could say about movies and media from the 90s, but one thing that can’t be denied is that the teen slasher went through something of a golden age. There are too many to list but suffice to say that if 90s teen horror is your jam, then Fear Street Part One: 1994 was made specifically for you. If you happen to like fun movies, then it was also made for you.

22 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Good On Paper’ is ok in practice

A woman walks through an airport complaining to a friend on the phone about being in the security line for 45 minutes because the woman ahead of her lost her boarding pass. “Who loses their boarding pass between check-in and security?” Then, as she reaches her gate, a handsome man hands her a piece of paper. “You dropped this,” he says as he hands her own boarding pass. This is the meet-cute in Good on Paper, a film which follows standup comedy Amanda (Iliza Shlesinger) as she embarks on a relationship with a man who seems too good to be true.

Written by and starring Shlesinger and directed by Kimmy Gatewood, the films seem primed to tell a story unlike what we’ve seen before, but while the intent is noble, the execution is only fine.

16 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Fatherhood’ has a heartfelt performance from Kevin Hart

Fatherhood starts with an unimaginable loss. Matt (Kevin Hart) and Liz (Deborah Ayorinde) are in the hospital to give birth to their first child. The birth goes well, but soon after, Liz suddenly dies from a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her lungs, that leaves Matt devastated and alone to raise his newborn daughter Maddy. Combined with pressure from his mother in law, everything about life looks difficult and bleak, but Matt resolves to raise his child the way that Liz would have wanted.

The opening scenes, cutting back and forth from Maddie’s birth to Liz’s funerals, let you know exactly what kind of film this will be and that Kevin Hart –a man known for being funny– has some dramatic chops, too.

8 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Awake’ is a technical stunner searching for a movie

I love long takes. I think they are an excellent way to highlight scene geography and build narrative tension in a film. I know they are complex endeavours that require every person involved to operate in unison. I find them thrilling.

Awake is full of long takes and other interesting camera work. It has fight scenes inside cars, long walks through buildings, and car crashes from the passengers perspective. Unfortunately, what it doesn’t have is a good story to tell, which is a shame because technically, the film is a stunner.

Awesome Friday!

Tag: Netflix