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A Monster Calls, Who In The Love Of God Is Cutting Onions Here

Oh jeez never has a film affected me so much, I’m gonna come clean about something I am a huge mummy’s boy I love my mum to the end of the earth and would do anything for her, I saw the trailer for this film and thought right.. yeah I’m not going to see this at all because I know what I will be like, an emotional cry baby, so my mum and dad and a few friends got together and watched A Monster Calls… as the lights came up at the end I was a wreck my face was soaked with tears it was like I had half of Niagara Falls pouring out of my eyes.

A Monster Calls follows the story of a young boy named Connor his mum has cancer and his one fear is losing her, he is tormented at school by bullies, one night a monster in the form of a tree comes along and tells him three stories, by the way the animation that goes with these stories is phenomenal just wanna point that out, any way as the film goes on we learn that Connor’s mum is dying and the only thing that can cure her is medicine from an ancient old yew tree, we start thinking yay there’s hope, but alas there isn’t and the final bit of treatment is unsuccessful, after an emotional talk about if your feeling angry and want to break something then break them, Connor goes back to the monster and tells him that he’s afraid of letting go, he’s afraid and doesn’t want his mum to die (feeling emotional yet) he feels tired and falls asleep with the monster telling him that when he wakes up it’ll be time.

When Connor wakes up his grandmother comes and drops him off at the hospital, cue one of the most emotional moments ever seen in a children’s film… oh yeah did I mention this is a children’s film, anyway the monster appears in the hospital with Connor and tells him that this is the end of the fourth tale (the fourth tale was Connor’s fear of losing his mum) Connor asks what he should do to which the monster replies “speak the truth” Connor then looks at his mum smiles at her and says “I don’t want you to go” well let’s just say at this point Niagara Falls was pouring out of my eyes, I was a wreck, anyway after an emotional farewell Connor’s mum sadly passes away in Connor’s arms (if your not crying your eyes out then your a cyborg I’m sorry)

Oh boy this film was sad, emotional and above all depressing! I have never cried at a film like that…. oh yeah The Notebook forgot about that anyway A Monster Calls is by far a very very very emotional film and for a kids film it does touch on some pretty dark themes such as death, cancer and losing someone we love, but then saying that that’s every child’s fear, look at Disney when they kill of the parents that’s every kids worst nightmare losing a parent, any way let’s make this review happy happy happy, I loved this film a lot my final rating is 10/10 is dark, depressing and really really emotional, so do yourselves a favour and go watch this film it’s amazing but until next time guys catch ya later.

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Before I Wake, Terrifyingly Scary

As I’ve said before and I will say it again… I love horror movies whether they be awful bottom of the barrel type b-movies like Sharknado (don’t judge) or a good old fashioned ghost story like the Woman In Black I love them, Before I Wake doesn’t fall in to any of those no, it falls once again in to bargain bin territory, lets dive in to that said bin this is Before I Wake.

Okay first of all the scares a minimal and cliched the acting by the parents is so so but the story is really bittersweet and quite sad once you get to the final act. The film starts Thomas Jane, who plays the dad and Kate Bosworth playing the mum, then we have straight outta Room Jacob Tremblay who probably who an amazing child actor for his age, he plays Cody the adopted son of the parents whose dreams can come magically to life, while this sounds like a Guillermo Del Toro movie your pretty much mistaken, Cody’s nightmares can also come to life, in the form of the least threatening sounding villain ever The Canker Man!!!! ooooooooo!!!!! sounds terrifying doesn’t it not! anyway it turns out when Cody was little his mum died of cancer and Cody’s fear was losing her, so uh oh! The Canker Man appears, however it in fact the cancer man as that’s what his mum died of, so the Canker man is really known as the cancer man, he was scared of losing his mum to cancer, so I guess in a way the villain is in fact cancer.

Anyway the film was pretty good I’m not gonna lie the scares were pretty cliched, the acting was so so but the plot/ending packs an emotional punch, all in all Before I Wake is an okay movie it’s not the greatest nor is it the scariest, as I said in the Book Of Henry review you will find this probably in the bargain bin at your local supermarket for about five pounds, final rating 5/10 but until next time guys catch ya later.

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Drive, A Throwback Like No Other

Indie films are amazing, I remember the first indie film I watched was a Wes Anderson movie, Drive is nothing like a Wes Anderson movie but it’s still an amazing film, from the soundtrack to the amazing cinematography drive is probably one of the best films to come out of 2011.

Drive stars Ryan Gosling as a getaway driver and stunt driver who ends up falling for this girl, now I’m gonna stop and say this is not a chick flick no… this is an action packed car chasing with chick flick elements thrown in, now I’m gonna be honest this film is slow and there’s not a lot of dialogue but don’t let that throw you off because the car chases are like nothing you have ever seen, especially the opening scene, think Baby Driver only with an 80s synth track going along with it, theres another thing, soundtrack is amazing it’s like a good old 80s thriller and loved what the director has done with this film.

Now let’s talk about the acting, Ryan Gosling is fantastic in this and so is Bryan Cranston as well speaking of which I cannot wait for Blade Runner 2049 to come out which also stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford reprising his role as Deckard, but that’s a review for another day, now where was I, oh yeah drive is a fantastic movie and will definitely watch again, it’s action packed with an amazing storyline, action and stunts as well, trust me the getaway scenes are just something else.

Final rating 10/10 it’s an amazing film to come out of the 2010s, have you seen drive? let me know what you thought of it, did you like it or did you hate it? But until next time guys catch ya later.

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Schindler’s List, Emotionally Draining That’s Pretty Much It

Oh my god…. oh my god, have some tissues in fact have a whole 2 boxes of them trust me you’ll need them, never has a film emotionally drained me before oh scrap that The Notebook made me cry (not ashamed to admit it) but this film good god, this is the cake topper for most emotional film ever, for those who don’t know Schindler’s List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler a German businessman who saves thousands of Jewish workers during the Second World War by making them work in his factory.

The film as a whole is three hours long which to some people may seem boring and dull but for those who like a good historic war film give this a go, the three hours fly by and we see some pretty gruesome and horrific things during this, not to mention the infamous little girl in the red jacket scene, which just happens to be the only time the film shows any colour, the acting is amazing and John William’s soundtrack is beautiful, just give the main theme a go and tell me that the violin doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, the film also stars Ralph Fiennes as a ruthless and brutal Nazi officer who shoots people with a sniper rifle from his balcony.

Trust me his character is just the most cruel and really harsh when dealing out punishments, for instance he shoots his architect for having to tear down a building and starting from scratch, he then gets his guards to shoot her. He then drags a factory worker in to the courtyard and attempts to shoot him for not producing enough locks, some scenes are almost unwatchable like the siege at the Krakow Ghetto where the Jewish are brutally shot and killed in their homes… yeah I told you it’s not a pretty film.

This has to be up there with Steven Spielberg’s greatest films he has ever made it’s heartbreaking and emotional, especially the part at the end where you see the actual people Schindler saved next to the people who played them, final score 10/10 it’s emotionally draining as I said and believe me once them credits roll trust me you will not have a dry eye at all anyway here’s the main theme, give this a listen to oh and there’s an amazing quote said by one of the characters “whoever saves one life, saves the world entire” https://youtu.be/VorGotjeLjM

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American Made An Unbelievable True Story

I love a film based on a true story whether it be a horror or based on someone I love them, American Made is one of those films where you have to do a double take scratch your head and say “no way this can’t be true” so let’s start off with telling the story of who this is based of off.

Barry Seal is a normal pilot who is hired by the C.I.A to take pictures of rebel bases in South America, there he meets ruthless Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar he then becomes a drug runner for the Medellin Cartel dropping off cocaine in the swamplands of Louisiana, he then starts working for the D.E.A… so to recap on things so far, this guy was working for three people the good guys the C.I.A the bad guys the Medellin Cartel and the D.E.A not to mention he was wanted by them also, what’s more unbelievable is the fact that he kept on getting arrested and after court cases after court cases was let off Scott free.

So I’m assuming you’ve kept up if you have good if you haven’t… well go see the film, the movie is action packed, there’s comedy in it as well, it’s a fun wtf film and it will leave you thinking how on earth did he get away with it so many times, like seriously Seal was arrested five maybe ten times and kept on getting let off free, every time he got arrested I thought okay he’s surly gotta go to prison now, and every time the judge said “nope your free to go” I was shocked and scratching my head.

Do yourself a favour and go see this film it’s brilliant Tome Cruise is amazing in this film as is Domnhall Gleeson who plays Schaefer the C.I.A agent who hires Barry at the start of the film, final rating 10/10 it’s funny, it’s unbelievable in some places but all in all it’s a great movie all together but until next time guys catch ya later

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Patriots Day An Eye-Opening Emotional Roller Coaster Of A Film

Peter Berg is surly becoming a favourite director of mine with his films about true life tragedies and incidents, I first saw a film he did called Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg about Operation Red Wings way back in 2005, definitely give that film a go if you love emotional war films.

Patriots Day does exactly the same thing and shines another light on yet another dark time in American history…. the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, oh boy this was amazing and again Peter Berg packs an emotional punch, from us seeing the explosion by using actual footage to seeing real pictures and the survivors talk about the attack, what I loved about this film is it uses actual footage of the attack, the moment the terrorist goes to the store and even uses the actual images of the terrorists themselves, it truly was an eye opening film as it shows what happens after the attack, from the FBI investigation to the manhunt that followed in Watertown Boston.

The manhunt scene is one of if the not the tensest edge of your seat moments, from the moment the first shot is fired all the way up until the very last bullet is fired it is one of the moment amazing scenes filmed, also may I also shout out the guy who was held hostage in his own car, not only was he calm and chilled out but he gave the cops the exact location as to where his car was, thanks to a GPS tracker built in to his car.

All in all Patriots Day is again another eye opener, we see exactly what happened in great detail and accuracy, most importantly the infamous manhunt for one of the terrorists, as I remember watching that live over here in the U.K. everything from the national guard all the way up to them finding the guy hidden in the boat. My final rating for this film is a solid 10/10 oh and this has possibly one of my favourite lines in it, during a shootout one of the cops says to the chief “sir we’re under heavy fire” only for the chief to reply with “yeah no shit” there are some other funny lines in here but I won’t say all of them as it will take a really long time to type the but anyway guys catch ya later 🙂

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Beyond The Black Rainbow… Trippy Nothing Else Just Trippy

Wow, wow, wow, wow… this film is just wow! Visually amazing the soundtrack is a proper 80s throwback the plot is a little hard to follow at some points, but don’t worry about the plot with this one, this is a film where you can sit back relax and let the visuals take you on a weird acid like trip without the acid.

Clocking in at around two hours the plot starts with a classic 80s throwback and cinematography that’s straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey, I can’t tell you much about the plot because it’s quite a tricky one to tell, but really you shouldn’t watch it for the plot it’s more of a visual experience, and boy this film has some amazing visuals right from the off, from the bright white room where a young girl is staying, to a glowing white pyramid in the middle of a dark and dimly lit room, now I’m not gonna lie the film is slow, like really really slow, this is the sort of film that you have to watch when you have absolutely nothing to do, oh and probably watch it in a quiet room where there’s no distractions, while I’m at it don’t watch it if anyone you know is epileptic… trust me not a good idea. The acting is impressive (trust me you will hate the therapist/psychiatrist guy)

All in all Beyond The Black Rainbow is a visually impressive slow burner of a film and a right proper throwback to the sci-fi movies of the seventies and eighties final rating 10/10 for the amazing visual hypnotic journey you take.

Oh by the way this film was requested by a user who goes by the name warriornonoba shout out to him/her for recommending this fantastic film one of my new favourites at the moment, so as always guys catch ya later 🙂

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It Comes At Night A24 Produce Another Smash Hit Movie

Ah independent horrors, you could get an outstanding cult hit or a dud, It Comes At Night is in the cult hit area, directed by Trey Edward Schulz director of a little independent movie known as Krisha (which by the way is an outstanding movie)

The marketing for this film was minimal no one and I mean no one had a clue what this was going to be about, the teaser didn’t provide us with anything https://youtu.be/tNE8oUtDaWk you can check that out here, then the movie hit us with an official trailer, which again didn’t provide us with anything. Then we got the film, what starts off as an isolated claustrophobic horror quickly descends in to a 28 days later esque type movie which is amazing, the film has a few jump scares and the plot is easy to follow, a few strangers end up secluded in a cabin in the woods only to become infected with an unknown virus, think Cabin Fever if Eli Roth didn’t add the gore and disgusting parts.

For a film that is relatively unknown it quickly shows that it can become a big independent horror flick, however A24 have only gone and released another small independent horror film… okay it’s more of a romantic horror without all the jump scares, A Ghost Story it’s titled, just watch the trailer and decide for yourselves because this film will be an acquired taste I guarantee it.

Any I’m digressing quite a bit, It Comes At Night is an amazing horror that you need to see final score 10/10 it’s dark it’s creepy it’s an amazing film all round definitely check this one out but until next time catch you later

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The Book Of Henry The Sort Of Film You Will Find In The DVD Bargain Bin

Colin Trevorrow director of such films like Safety Not Guaranteed and 2015s smash hit Jurassic World, and now he returns to the big screen with The Book Of Henry starring Naomi Watts Jaeden Lieberher and Jacob Trembley, like the title suggests here’s why I think this.

Firstly I’m not slating the movie in anyway I really enjoyed it however the film doesn’t know sometimes what it wants to be for example we open up with a typical suburban family with single mother Susan (Naomi Watts) and her two sons Henry (Jaeden Lieberher) and Peter (Jacob Trembley) we get a happy run of the mill family comedy, we then suddenly get what I like to call it a kiddyfied PS, I Love You Henry is suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumour and dies in his mums arms (didn’t see that coming) then suddenly it turns in to a drama/thriller, basically Christina played by Maddy Ziegler is being abused by her step dad (Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris) Henry comes up with a plan to save Christina from the abuse.

The film then takes us on a journey where Susan tries to complete Henry’s wish, by killing Christina’s step father (say what!!!) yeah this film then gets turned in to a kiddyfied John Wick (a great film in case you haven’t seen it) I’m not gonna say if the plan is successful or not, trust me the ending will leave you like “what the hell just happened”

Okay I may of slated this film a little bit but hey it was enjoyable to say the least, this film will eventually become underrated at some point and when it comes out on DVD you will find it in the near future in say a bargain bin in your local Tesco’s or Asda. So to summarise, The Book Of Henry is enjoyable and heartwarming I just think it should of stayed being a family comedy/drama but hey who am I to judge.

So final score I’m giving The Book Of Henry a 7/10 it was enjoyable but really needs to decide on a genre rather than mashing 3 into 1 anyway guys hope you enjoyed and until next time catch you later 🙂

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Detroit A Film That Everyone Must See This Year

Kathryn Bigelow is slowly but surly becoming one of my favourite directors out there, the first film I watched of hers was 2009s The Hurt Locker, a war film about bomb disposal experts in Iraq, that film was thrilling and a proper edge of your seat flick, her next film was Zero Dark Thirty a film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden again it was thrilling exciting and an eye opener in to how the operation to find and kill the most wanted man alive became a reality. Detroit however does something different sure it’s gripping and tense but it’s more of an eye opener on such a dark time in American history.

It takes place in the late 60s in Detroit, we see police shut down an illegal bar, as they are arresting the customers things take a turn for the worst when an angry protester hurls rocks at the police, suddenly Detroit has become a war zone and this film doesn’t waste anytime as it literally jumps straight in, from there we see the cops, the national guard and the army deployed, all while this is happening and incident in a motel is taking place, this will be known as the Algiers Motel incident, I’m not saying what happens but let me tell you it’s not pretty.

As all this is going on I’m looking around the cinema and seeing everyone’s reactions, some have their head in their hands others are just merely looking on with shock, as was I during this, it certainly was an eye opener and sheds much needed light on such a dark time in American history, the film as a whole was dark, gritty and very powerful to say the least, there are some jaw dropping and emotional scenes particularly one where a member of the national guard thinks an innocent little girl is a sniper and starts shooting at the window where she was looking.

All in all Detroit is an eye opening film for the right reasons it sheds light on a tragic subject in the USA one that I think needs to be addressed and Kathryn Bigelow certainly does that, the film stars John Boyega as a security guard in charge with protecting a store while the riots are taking place, it also stars Will Poulter as a cop during the riots, I enjoyed this film and hope you do too final rating 10/10.

Until next time catch you later