Fellowship of Filming(s)

A Dark Song (2016)

Wikipedia:

A Dark Song is a 2016 Irish-British independent horror film, written and directed by Liam Gavin and starring Steve Oram and Catherine Walker. It was released to select theatres and digital streaming platforms on 28 April 2017. It is Gavin’s directorial debut.

This film is British, but I’m not sure I’d call it a horror film, it’s a supernatural film, since the entire plot is a woman convincing a witch to perform a ritual to summon a guardian angel. I would also call it a bit of drama as well given the reasons the woman wants to do the ritual in the first place.

It’s a slow moving movie, the ritual takes quite a few months to perform, and gets awkward, intimate, and exhausting. Eventually the woman has had it, and takes matters into her own hands…and then the movie gets a bit more interesting.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon.

Inception (2010)

Wikipedia:

Inception is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with his wife, Emma Thomas. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for the implantation of another person’s idea into a target’s subconscious. The ensemble cast includes Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine.

I seem to own a few movies starring Leonardo DiCaprio, so I think that means I quite enjoy his performances, and that’s true of this one. I’ve always been interested in dreams and dream interpretation, and this is an interesting futuristic spin on dreams and dreaming.

Considered terrorists and mental thiefs, Leo and his crew are a group of professionals looking for the next big score. Inception is the act of inserting an idea into the mind of a victim and only exists as an impossible theory. Until now. With the promise of returning home to his family on the line DiCaprio takes on the challenge.

It’s a wonderful wild ride through literal dreamscapes, built-in tactical resistance troops, and the possibility of forever being trapped in the dream world.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

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The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (2003)

Wikipedia:

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, also promoted as LXG, is a 2003 steampunk-dieselpunk superhero film loosely based on the first volume of the comic book series of the same name by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. It was released on July 11, 2003, in the United States, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Stephen Norrington and starred Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng and Richard Roxburgh.

Sean Connery is another actor I enjoy, even though he’s an older gentleman I still find his accent attractive. LXG could arguably be considered one of the original superhero groups, as they were assembled in the ~1800s which is decades before DC or Marvel superheroes were even considered.

It’s a theory.

Anyway, Alan Quartermain, Dorian Gray, the Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll, Agent Tom Sawyer, and one Mina Harker gather together to take on a terrorist group willing to start another world war. It’s an action packed, superhero fueled ride through a steampunk environment.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon

Binge-Watching Netflix: Pokemon Sun & Moon

Wikipedia:

The twentieth season of the Pokémon animated series is known as Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon (ポケットモンスターサン&ムーン, Poketto Monsutā: San & Mūn) in Japan, and internationally as Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon). This season follows the continuing adventures of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu as they travel to the Alola region, go to Pokémon school, participate in the island trials, and learn how to use the power of Z-moves. The season originally aired in Japan from November 17, 2016 to September 21, 2017 on TV Tokyo.

I wanted to watch something cheerful during my isolation time to take my mind off the dreary outside world for awhile. Netflix has 3 seasons of Pokemon Sun & Moon (each season actually has a different name) and so the binge-watching began.

Season One (20) was your basic introduction the Alola region; Z-moves, new pokemon, and the island challenges. Season Two (21) followed the gameplay of Pokemon Sun & Moon games (no spoilers!). Season Three (22) was the introduction of the Ultra Beasts and the conclusion of Ash’s time in Alola.

I do enjoy the Pokemon franchise and did enjoy the character progression featured in all three seasons. Even Ash had some good character progression at the end of Season Three when he answered the question “what next?”.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon

Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014)

Wikipedia:

Lizzie Borden Took an Ax is a 2014 American television biopic about Lizzie Borden, a young American woman tried and acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892. It premiered on Lifetime on January 25, 2014 and starred Christina Ricci in the title role. The film was so successful it was followed by a miniseries, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, which aired from April to May 2015. Ricci has described the film and its follow-up as being “self-aware, campy, and tongue-in-cheek”.

I honestly love Christina Ricci, she has had some wonderful roles, she played Wednesday Addams (Addams Family) and Kat (Casper). And I really like her in this role as Lizzie Borden, she’s nearly perfect for this role.

I’m sure we all know the premise of this movie here, its almost become a sort of folk lore or boogey man story, except with a woman involved. Its the story of Lizzie Borden.

The movie does manage to keep the outcome at bay until the end of the movie, where upon Lizzie confesses everything to her sister, Emma.

All in all I quite like Ricci as Lizzie, it makes for a fun movie.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon.

Carrie (1976)

Wikipedia:

Carrie is a 1976 American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay written by Lawrence D. Cohen, adapted from Stephen King’s 1974 epistolary novel of the same name. The film stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a 16-year-old diffident teenager who is consistently mocked and bullied at school. Her peers are unaware that she possesses telekinetic powers. The film also featured Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt, P. J. Soles, Betty Buckley, and John Travolta in supporting roles. It is the first film in the Carrie franchise.

This is the first movie rendition of Stephen King’s first published novel, Carrie. It was done in 1976, but since this movie doesn’t really require much in the way of effects, it comes off quite well.

Anyway, it’s definitely a horror film, as its based on a horror novel. Sissy Spacek does well as the title role, she makes a very believable Carrie. There’s also a young John Travolta here as well.

There’s not much to say here, as it’s a classic horror novel made into a classic horror movie.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon.

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Wikipedia:

The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American science fiction thriller film written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart. The title refers to the butterfly effect, a popular hypothetical situation that illustrates how small initial differences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time.

I’ve watched this movie several times now, and each time I learn something new. It’s a mind turning movie with elements of time travel. The movie revolves around the butterfly effect theory: if a butterfly beats its wings 1,000 miles away,what do those reverberations affect?

Anyway, Ashton Kutcher follows in his father’s footsteps trying to fix his past, one moment at a time. Each time he attempts it something goes a little bit wrong, and each time he tries to correct it. It’s truly mind-bending, in a good way.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon.

The Cell (2000)

Wikipedia:

The Cell is a 2000 science fiction psychological horror film directed by Tarsem Singh in his directorial debut, and starring Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, and Vincent D’Onofrio. The film follows scientists as they use experimental technology to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer in order to locate where he has hidden his latest kidnap victim.

This is another movie I’ve watched a few times now, I like the psychology behind it: going into another’s mind for therapeutic treatment sounds like an interesting idea. Well, in the course of the movie its used for a different purpose: to get inside the mind of a comatose serial killer to find his latest victim.

Staring Jennifer Lopez in a crazy surreal world of the human mind, searching for a clue to the location of a victim who is not yet dead. I really do like the surreal surroundings presented within this movie.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

Get it on Amazon.

Truth or Dare (2017)

Wikipedia:

Truth or Dare is a 2017 American supernatural horror television film co-written by Thommy Hutson and Ethan Lawrence and directed by Nick Simon. The film stars Cassandra Scerbo, Brytni Sarpy, Mason Dye, Harvey Guillén, Alexxis Lemire, Luke Baines, Ricardo Hoyos, Christina Masterson, and Heather Langenkamp. The plot focuses on a group of eight college students who rent a house haunted by a vengeful spirit who lost a game of truth or dare several years earlier. The group decide to play the game and are forced to follow through or face deadly consequences. The film premiered on Syfy on October 8, 2017, and was met to generally positive reviews. As of February 2019, the film has grossed $3,417 from DVD and Blu-ray sales.

Like Darkness Rising, this is another haunted house movie, but unlike that movie, this movie includes a very twisted game of Truth or Dare. And it is bloody. If you have to tell the truth and lie about it, you die. If you don’t complete a dare in the correct amount of time, you die. Well, you might die from doing the dare anyway since it’s just that kind of game.

Eight college kids unwillingly take on the challenge and by the end of the movie there are decidedly less college kids, but a pretty decent plot. It is a blood and gore movie, I’m not gonna lie, and say it’s almost bordering on a slasher movie, so be advised.

My Ranking: ★ ★

Get it on Amazon

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Wikipedia:

Muppets Most Wanted is a 2014 American musical crime comedy film and the eighth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Directed by James Bobin and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, the film is a sequel to The Muppets (2011) and stars Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey, as well as Muppet performers Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel and Peter Linz. In the film, the Muppets become involved in an international crime caper while on a world tour in Europe.

This is an original Muppet movie plot, but not an original plot. Basically, Kermit is replaced by a world renowned criminal and no one notices. In fact it takes Miss Piggy asking a very important question to figure out the difference.

The new Muppet, Walter, does have an inkling something is wrong, but it even takes him awhile to figure out what it is.

This movie takes place exactly where the first one left off. Exactly where it left off.

I do enjoy the music, the Muppets always have some fun original songs. It adds to the enjoyment. I’ve not watched a Muppet movie that I haven’t liked.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★