Fellowship of Filming(s)

The Goonies (1985)

The Goonies is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by Steven Spielberg, and starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, and Ke Huy Quan with supporting roles done by John Matuszak, Robert Davi, Anne Ramsey, and Joe Pantoliano. In the film, a group of kids who live in the “Goon Docks” neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon, attempt to save their homes from foreclosure and, in doing so, they discover an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willy, a legendary 17th-century pirate. During the adventure, they are chased by a family of criminals who want the treasure for themselves.
via Wikipedia

I did not watch this as a child, but for the first time as a young adult I watched this at the behest of a college friend. I can certainly understand why it was part of their childhood. I mean, what kid didn’t dream of following a treasure map and finding the hidden treasure at the end of it?

There’s also a very young Sean Astin here, who I admire as an actor, I’ve enjoyed many of his films. There’s just the right grouping of friends here for everyone to identify with, and even friendly protector in the end to help them out of a bind.

There’s not much else to say here, other than you should watch it with your own kids or someone else’s kids (don’t kidnap anyone please, just borrow your nieces and nephews for an afternoon).

My Rating: ★ ★ ★

Assassin’s Creed (2016)

Assassin’s Creed is a 2016 dystopian, science fiction, action film based on the video game franchise of the same name. The film is directed by Justin Kurzel, written by Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, and stars Michael Fassbender (who also produced), as well as Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling and Michael K. Williams. The film is set in the same universe as the video games but features an original story that expands the series’ mythology. The plot revolves around Callum “Cal” Lynch (Fassbender), who is abducted by the Abstergo Foundation because of his heritage. Cal’s ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha, was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood—a fictional organization inspired by the real-life Order of Assassins—active during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 15th-century, who swore to protect the Apple of Eden, an artifact believed to contain the key to humanity’s free will. Cal must accept his Assassin heritage and stop Abstergo, the Templar Order of the modern-day, from finding the Apple and using it to enslave humanity.
via Wikipedia

Human experimentation on ex-death row prisoners who have died. Also based on a video game series, I happen to have in my collection. Though I haven’t played it much, so it doesn’t skew my review here. It’s meant to be a prequel to the video games – the start of the search for an ancient relic.

This movie follows 2 story lines, one in 1492 where we follow Aguilar to find out where he stashed the Apple of Eden and one in 2016 where we follow the Abstergo Foundation’s human experiments with Cal to end violence by searching for the Apple of Eden.

Half this movie is in Spanish as we are following Aguilar in Spain, so this does make sense; it breaks up the sequences nicely. I will say though that I prefer watching the 1492 storyline over the 2016 storyline. So I guess that means I like half the movie?

And there’s a sequel.

My Ranking: ★ ★

More Movies to Watch:

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the Star Trek franchise and the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek, as the second in a rebooted film series. It features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, and Leonard Nimoy reprising their roles from the previous film. Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, and Peter Weller are also in the film’s principal cast. It was Nimoy’s last film appearance before his death in 2015. Set in the 23rd century, the film follows Kirk and the crew of USS Enterprise as they are sent to the Klingon homeworld seeking a former Starfleet member-turned-terrorist, John Harrison.
via Wikipedia

This movie could easily be retitled “The Wrath of Khan” – which is a classic storyline from the Star Trek series as a whole. It is re-done so well, that initially when I went to re-watch it, I had no idea what was going on until Khan revealed himself two-thirds through the movie.

I enjoyed watching these characters grow in themselves and with each other, but there is a lot of death and destruction here too. Khan does cause a decent amount of damage before his agenda is found out in its entirety. The Enterprise does not look good at all. Nor do quite a few of our favorite characters.

I also approve of the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, it just works so well. He comes across just perfect as the villain of this story.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

More Movies to Watch:

Inheritance (2020)

Inheritance is a 2020 American thriller film directed by Vaughn Stein from a screenplay by Matthew Kennedy. The film stars Lily Collins, Simon Pegg, Connie Nielsen, Chace Crawford and Patrick Warburton. Inheritance was released on May 22, 2020, by Vertical Entertainment. It received generally negative reviews from critics.
via Wikipedia

Where do I start? The movie starts with the death of the family patriarch and what he leaves behind. His secret. Or rather what soon turns out be a family secret. In a secret bunker under the family home, Lauren discovers a man who is being held prisoner by her late father. Her father didn’t tell her anything about the man and Lauren can’t believe anything the man tells her.

The whole movie is Lauren and the mystery man bantering back and forth with Lauren trying to understand just what exactly is going on. Does she let the man go? Is he too dangerous to let go? What should she do?

I won’t spoil the ending because you may watch it on Netflix, but it’s not an entirely surprising ending. It’s interesting for the mystery which is presented, but once the mystery is gone there isn’t much worth rewatching here.

My Ranking: ★ ★

More Movies to Watch:

Coraline (2009)

Coraline is a 2009 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Henry Selick and based on Neil Gaiman’s novella of the same name. Produced by Laika as the studio’s first feature film, it features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. The film tells the story of its titular character discovering an idealized parallel universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains a dark and sinister secret.
via Wikipedia

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

I’d like to start by saying that this is a family film, but I’m not entirely sure about that as it is quite scary in the Other World. But the first two-thirds of the movie are the childish meanderings of young girl dealing with a big change, moving to a new house.

She does her best to acclimate, but the Other World has more to offer her young mind, and everyone is decidedly more friendly towards her, even making her favorite foods and letting her do whatever she wants to do…. but as any horror movie goes, we know that none of this will end well. At least not without great effort.

Neil Gaiman is a wonderful author of dark fantasy and he spins a wonderful tale about growing up, and if you do get the chance I highly recommend reading the book that this movie is based on .

My Rating: ★ ★ ★

More Movies to Watch:

The Last Witch Hunter (2015)

The Last Witch Hunter is a 2015 American urban fantasy action film directed by Breck Eisner and written by Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama, and Burk Sharpless. The film stars Vin Diesel as an immortal witch hunter who must stop a plague from ravaging the entire world. The film was released on October 23, 2015, grossing $147 million while receiving generally unfavorable reviews from critics.
via Wikipedia

While I enjoy Vin Diesel as an actor and the the premise for this movie sounds really good, the execution is not all that great. For an action and adventure movie everything goes too smoothly. There’s no danger. Klauder can’t die. People around him can, but he’s pretty good at preventing that.

This follows that standard immortal hero and immortal enemy with a pinch of betrayal thrown in as a twist.

I mean, the cast is great: Elijah Wood and Michael Caine are here. The plot could be really good too. It’s just not executed well and could be so much better. For instance, Rose Leslie, who plays opposite seems just way too young for what’s going on. She’s nice eye candy and knows what she’s doing, but the movie implies more and it seems forced.

Fight scenes don’t last long, and it’s obvious who will win, as I said before there’s no danger. The only interesting bit is the plot twist. It’s a bit of a let down. Three stars for Vin Diesel and the cast.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

More Movies to Watch:

Lavender (2016)

Lavender is a 2016 American-Canadian drama film directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly and written by Colin Frizzell and Ed Gass-Donnelly.

The film stars Abbie Cornish as a young mother struggling with memory lapses related to her troubled childhood. Co-stars include Dermot Mulroney, Justin Long, Diego Klattenhoff, Peyton Kennedy and Lola Flanery. The film was released on DirecTV on February 3, 2017, before being released on VOD and in theaters on March 3, 2017, by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
via Wikipedia

I really do love psychological thrillers, probably why Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. This film explores a woman’s childhood memories, some of which have been blocked out due to trauma. However one memory does remain, a children’s tune, Lavender Blue. She returns to her childhood home with her new family and the memories start returning.

I’m not at all certain why this movie wasn’t more popular as it is really good. It kept me guessing for quite some time, that is until the daughter starts hearing the tune as well.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★

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Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction, action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the 11th film in the Star Trek franchise, and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek television series portrayed by a new cast, as the first in the rebooted film series. The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard the USS Enterprise as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. The story takes place in an alternate reality that features both an alternate birth location for James T. Kirk and further alterations in history stemming from the time travel of both Nero and the original series Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate reality was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements.
Via Wikipedia

This is an alternate timeline version of the Original Star Trek series. We get to see the parents and birth of James T. Kirk and his unusual catapult to infamy. The characters have slightly different personalities and interests, I personally appreciate the attitude of Bones, and how he got his nickname.

There is a whole knew storyline and plotline from the entire series and I very much appreciate it. Bones the hypochondriac, Chekov the young genius, Scotty the eccentric, Kirk the risk taker, Spock the unyielding, Sulu the unexperienced fencer, and Uhura communication expert and sexpot.

I also very much enjoy one of the last appearances of Leonard Nimoy.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★ ★

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 American action fantasy film directed by Mike Newell from a screenplay by Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard, based on the video game series Prince of Persia created by Jordan Mechner. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, and Alfred Molina. It is an adaptation of the 2003 video game of the same name published by Ubisoft. Elements from the video games Warrior Within and The Two Thrones are also incorporated.
Via Wikipedia

Based on video game of same name. Time travel. Persia mythology etc etc

First, I will point out that I’ve maybe played one Prince of Persia video game and I don’t remember at all which one it is, but Sands of Time is one that is still very well known even if it is an older game now. However there is still quite a lot to love about this time traveling movie.

The entire plotline reminds me a lot of Disney’s The Lion King, as it prominently features a lion and royal succession. There’s also quite a bit of mythology around a sandstorm, that I have yet to figure out if it’s based on a known myth or made up for the game/movie.

At any rate, I do enjoy this movie, I own it on DVD, and have watched it several times.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★ ★

More Movies to Watch:

Last Shift (2015)

Last Shift is a 2014 American psychological horror film directed by Anthony DiBlasi. It was written by DiBlasi and Scott Poiley, both of whom produced along with Mary Poiley. Juliana Harkavy stars as a rookie police officer who is tasked with taking the last shift at a police station before it is permanently closed. Strange events lead her to believe that it may be haunted. It premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival on October 25, 2014, and was released to video-on-demand on October 6, 2015.
via Wikipedia

This is one of those horror movies that takes place in one area – a police station. The main action takes place inside, and really 60% of the movie is in the office/dispatch room. There are a couple other characters besides our protagonist, but honestly we don’t see them much. She has a mentor who hands the keys off to her and gives her a brief history of the place and how sad it is that it’s being decommissioned.

After this brief introduction things start to get truly weird and continue to get weird, until our mentor cop returns to check on our rookie cop protagonist.

I really like these types of films, they remind me so much of Stephen King Books (I’ve read some!) that take a seemingly normal situation and turn it up a notch. Worth a watch!

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★