Dreaded light : A film opportunity

Get involved in Mark MacNicol's new feature film

Dreaded Light

I've been contacted by Mark MacNicol to take a look at the introduction video about a film being produced in Manchester. As far as I can tell from this brief introduction it's a film about spirituality in this world (a story is brought up about a medium and her prediction of a deceased daughter). It's all rather vague, but instinctively I feel that this might be a very interesting topic.

Yep, it's a kind of crowdfunding and you get the opportunity to be a participant in the creation of this film. And apparently riskless ...

Interested? You can find the necessary information here!

This is the 

The Jungle Book (2016)

Summary 
The man-cub Mowgli flees the jungle after a threat from the tiger Shere Khan. Guided by Bagheera the panther and the bear Baloo, Mowgli embarks on a journey of self-discovery, though he also meets creatures who don't have his best interests at heart.

Genre : Adventure
Country : USA

Cast : 
Neel Sethi : Mowgli

Bill Murray : Baloo (voice)
Ben Kingsley : Bagheera (voice)

Director : Jon Favreau

My opinion

“No matter where you go or what they may call you, you will always be my son.”

Of all fairy tales adaptations I've seen so far ("Maleficent", "Snow white and the huntsmen" and "Jack the giant slayer"), this animated movie (it looks lifelike but it consists mainly out of groundbreaking digital animations) is the the most dazzling one. I don't want to sound too excited and shower Jon "Chef" Favreau with all the superlatives that I can think of for his directing work of , but in short this film was fantastic. Not only did this film throw me back to my childhood when my innocent eyes wandered over a large picture book and sympathized with the little Mowgli (Neel Sethi). But as an adult, I also stared at this beautiful film dumbfounded.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this restyled Disney version and I can't think of a single thing to criticize. Everything looks lifelike. The jungle and overall scenery made out of millions of pixels, is phenomenal. The inhabitants of this jungle look stunning. At times I doubted whether they were digital creations or the real thing. Even their character traits are conforming. And in between all these animal activities, one single human creature moves around. Looking at it afterwards you can easily say this was a superhuman performance of this little guy. Because successfully navigating in between these digitally created fellow players wasn't easy I reckon. In terms of empathy, this young lad thrills. It's not only the design department who'll walk away with the honors. It's also the character study and the perfect mix of action and philosophical, emotional moments that make it appealing to all ages. The boundary of creepiness wasn't exceeded (my daughter thought it was terribly exciting though) and it isn't really childish at the same time. I honestly have to admit that during the wonderful scene with Mowgli and Baloo singing "The Bare Necessities", I had to wipe away an upcoming tear. Pure nostalgia.

The movie hardly deviates from the original, well-known story so to speak. According to me the only part that differs was the denouement. In my youth book, lightning struck a tree and Mowgli drove out the terrible and dangerous Shere Khan with a burning branch. Also some new features are introduced. The daily life of the pack of wolves is illustrated in detail. Certain laws were incorporated into the story such as "The Water Truce" that takes effect the moment a terrible drought occurs. And here and there are some amusing additions like the favor Mowgli does for Baloo during which he uses his human ingenuity to solve the problem. The comments of the agitated, little animals on the whole operation was extremely hilarious. And there are some masterful scenes in this film. I was most impressed about the chapter in the beautifully rendered temple where a colossal King Lowie reigns.

Not only a lot of energy was put into the visual aspect, but also in the voice cast. It felt like all voices of the elected actors fit perfectly with their characters. To bring this to a succesful conclusion, they chose renowned actors: Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Bill Murray (Baloo), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Lupita Nyong’o (Raksha), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa) en Christopher Walken (King Louie). I was most impressed by Christopher Walken who apparently also has a very firm singing voice. The most amusing was that of Bill Murray. Not because of his timbre of course, but because of the textual content. So, nothing but praises for this embellished Disney Classic. Perhaps the movie isn't as enchanting as the original and the end result is a more exciting and darker version. I'd be glad when Disney would dig out the other classics, dust them off and transform them into such a visual spectacle as this wonderful film.

My rating 8/10
Links : IMDB

The lost reviews Part 4 : The Retrieval (2013)

Summary 
On the outskirts of the U.S. Civil War, a boy is sent north by his bounty hunter gang to retrieve a wanted man.

Genre : Drama
Country : USA

Cast : 
Ashton Sanders : Will

Tishuan Scott : Nate
Keston John : Marcus

Director : Chris Eska

My opinion

It's about time I gave my opinion on a number of films I've watched a while ago. I didn't have the time for that yet. Or was it just because I didn't feel like writing about them? It's not because they were aweful and totally crap. Far from. But quite simply because they were already extensively praised by other movie buffs. So here it is. A short and modest opinion.

1864. The civil war between North and South is intense and nearing its end. Will (Ashton Sanders) and Marcus (Keston John) try to earn some money during their miserable existence as a slave and serve as bait for the bounty hunter Burell (Bill Oberst Jr.). By using their directions, Burell captures escaped slaves and they receive a small portion of the premium. Strange but true. I didn't know oppressed slaves were misused like this. Their survival instinct drives them to do such insidious practices and thus betray their own fellow-sufferers. They seek the company of those white bounty hunters, so they are safe for other white men. A contradictory situation. On the one hand there's this sense of security. But then they are still under the rule of ruthless bounty hunters, who have no human feeling whatsoever for black people who they see as inferior.

Will's life basically revolves solely around treason. Treachery towards his own people and treachery also towards himself. Deep down he feels resentment and remorse about the fact that he's forced to chase poor women and children into the hands of these bounty hunters. The ultimate task Burell asks them to do, is a search for the runaway slave Nate (Tishuan Scott) who buries fallen soldiers in the north. The reward probably will be sufficient enough to buy back their freedom. They just need to convince Nate to return with them. To accomplish that they use the excuse of a dying brother who wants to see Nate one more time.

 
The feeling of guilt that's bothering Will, grows even stronger because of the bond of trust that grows in between him and Nate. The lack of a father figure in his young life begins to weigh and Will starts to look up at Nate. When both of them save each other's lives during the trip, Will's resistance against the original plan begins to rise. He's forced to take a well-defined hard decision.

"The Retrieval" is,  just like the movie "Django Unchained", an attempt to show the life of an African-American from a completely different angle. Django was a free Afro-American. An individual who had the same rights as his white oppressor. In the eyes of these white masters this was unacceptable and hard to accept. Here, African Americans are forced to commit terrible acts. And they committed these acts merely to safeguard their own lives in these tragic and disgraceful times. Unfortunately, there is an oversupply of genres in this film. It's a war movie (with brief excerpts from the battlefield), a drama about slavery, a kind of road movie and finally a coming of age story. All these genres together make that the movie can go in any direction.

The interaction between Will and Nate is the most interesting portion of the film. A masterly combination of poignant conversations. Maybe this unvarnished version without stunning backgrounds and colorful images shows a more realistic view than the bigger Hollywood productions. The barren winter landscape with its gray, pale colors underline the human sorrow and melancholy tone of the story. Perhaps the pace is a bit too slow, but this is compensated by the dynamic between the taciturn old slave and the with doubts haunted young boy. Perhaps "The Retrieval" is technically inferior compared to "12 Years a Slave", but content wise it's maybe stronger.

My rating 7/10
Links : IMDB

Bastard (2015)

Summary 
Five strangers - newlywed serial killers, a suicidal cop, and two runaways - become suspect and victim when a masked murderer makes its presence known in an isolated mountain town.

Genre : Horror
Country : USA

Cast : 
Ellis Greer : Hannah

Dan Creed : West
Tonya Kay : Rachael

Director : Powell Robinson, Patrick Robert Young

My opinion 

"You should've killed him.
Yeah, I know. But it's your turn."

At first sight "Bastard" is just another horror of the slasher genre. But with the eccentric characters and their strange behavior, one tries to depart from well-established patterns used in this genre. In the third part of the story they are trying to bring up a very crazy twist. Surprising? Yes. But in my eyes a bit exaggerated and too far-fetched. This was a minor disappointing aspect in "Bastard". The storyline was a bit exorbitant. The first time it was shocking. The next moment it felt pretty laughable.

Feel free to call "Bastard" in one breath weird, kooky, and richly overdone. So, if you're looking for a horror with lots of abnormalities, in such amount that you start to wonder if there's anyone sane playing in it, this film is the right thing. The atmosphere feels great from the beginning. A dusty road with two seemingly innocent, stranded tourists hitchhiking. Lets meet Hannah (Ellis Greer) and West (Dan Creed), a newlywed couple. Soon you'll come to the conclusion that they are completely crazy. A kind of a "Natural Born Killers" duo. Especially Hannah is an explosive barrel full of insanity. One wrong word or too much ogling at her richly filled T-shirt is enough to make her explode. The flirtatious behavior of the driver in the car that just stopped, immediately gives rise to a heavy hammer being planted in his forehead (after which the victim is expertly cut into pieces along the way). And thus the tone has been set.

After this, the other protagonists are introduced. First West gives two youngsters hitchhiking along the way a ride. Betty (Rebekah Kennedy) and Jake (Will Tranfo) seem to be an innocent-looking couple. But at the same time you know something isn't right. Betty is the somewhat timid shy type, while Jake is the slightly smoother talker. If it was up to Hannah, who thoroughly starts hating the two teenagers from the first moment, they would end up in pieces in the trunk of the car. After this, Michael (Burt Culver) is introduced. A gay police officer with a serious drinking problem and suicidal tendencies. Unfortunately you won't find out why Michael is suicidal. Let alone you will find out why Hannah and West have become such brutal serial killers. Not that it matters, but it would be an interesting addition.

The second act takes place in Rachael's (Tonya Kay) bed and breakfast. Rachael is a not so bad-looking hostess who quickly makes it perfectly clear, to Hannah in an explicit verbal way, that she isn't someone to mess around with. Nevertheless an odd way to show hospitality. That same evening Michael warns them that some teenagers have disappeared. That can't prevent them to organize a trek through the forest the next day. Oddity number two. Next we get a sort of "Friday the 13th" where you'll be wondering who'll be the next victim and who's the perpetrator. After seeing the part where the local bartender undergoes a spine transplant,you know what to expect. This fragment also shows the used absurd humor in this film. When the bartender ventured into a romp with his horny girlfriend (enough reason to leave the bar unattended. Oddity number three), you weren't expecting that his girlfriend would pull out a purple strap-on dildo. And even less, that this object would be a convenient means of defense.

The denouement in the third act is absolutely bizarre and disturbing. A complete deranged development and disclosure. Something I totally didn't expect. Before I knew it, some deformed nipples were hurled back and forth in front of me and a totally derailed conspiracy was unfolded. But I must admit that it was a highly entertaining movie. Not only because of the bloody and sometimes intense scenes (that spine), but also because of the acting. It was surprisingly well done. Especially between Hannah and West the chemistry was obviously present. And the humor used was rather subtle. The interplay between Ellis Greer and Dan Creed was simply magnificent. Perhaps the end was a bit "over the top". But it surpassed all the typical slashers which are presented nowadays. A must for the fans!

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Summary 
Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment. When they arrive a man named Rom who works for Leopold attacks the village they are at and captures Tarzan and Jane. With the help of Washington, an American who accompanied Tarzan, he escapes and sets out to rescue Jane by going across the jungle and Washington joins him despite being told that he might not make it.

Genre : Adventure
Country : USA/UK/Canada

Cast : 
Alexander Skarsgård : Tarzan/John Clayton

Samuel L. Jackson : George Washington Williams
Margot Robbie : Jane Clayton

Director : David Yates

My opinion 

“Bring it to me.
Bring him to me.
And you shall have your diamonds.”

Once and a while my mother allowed me to choose a comic strip at the store when I was a small boy. I always opted for a Tarzan comic strip. It appealed very strongly to my imagination at that time. That ruler of the jungle who used lianas to travel and who ruled over those wild fellow residents of the jungle. Even films from the old days with Johnny Weissmuller captivated me. Weissmuller was more impressive compared to this Tarzan. I'm talking about the size of his thorax and those developed biceps and triceps. Tarzan in this movie is a tad less muscled and he's already adapted to modern society. No "Me Tarzan.You Jane" conversations. He rather listens to the name John Clayton (Alexander Skarsgård). A distinguished English gentleman who walks around gallantly on two legs and speaks eloquently to his fellow men. He's civilized, in other words.

And then there's Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) who explores Africa while looking for valuable diamonds to fund the expansionism of the Belgian King Leopold II. Rom is a determined globetrotter who won't let anything stand in his way so he can reach his goal. There's one obstacle between him and the valuable diamonds. And that's Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou) who only wants one thing in exchange for those precious diamonds. And that's Tarzan. Time for Rom to forge a plan and lure the lord of the jungle in a clever way to the dark African continent. The jeering jungle dweller is being accompanied by his lovely wife Jane (Margot "Focus" Robbie). Something else to be worried about.

Is "The Legend of Tarzan" a bad movie? No, not really. But it isn't an excellent movie either. It sometimes looks a little bit out dated. Even though Tarzan is placed in a totally different zeitgeist and his attitude towards the natives in Africa isn't so explicitly authoritarian anymore. Even Jane isn't such a sensitive screaming blonde in distress, who runs out of the jungle the moment a tiny wild animal shows itself. Ultimately, the film unfolds itself like a typical Tarzan story in which the terror of the jungle has to rescue his wife out of the hands of the bad guys. That's how it also was portrayed in comics and the older movies. Lets say, it's not such a legendary movie.

Admit it. Tarzan doesn't look like he could withstand the primal force of the Mangani and actually he should have ended up as a comfy carpet in some hut in the bush after receiving such hammer blows of this fearsome attacker. But I could live with that. After all, he's a legend. This film is about THE legend. An unassailable and invincible superhero whose status reached iconic proportions. Clearly noticable was the unconvincing look of the group of gorillas. Compared to "The Jungle Book", the CGI of the wild animals sometimes really looked miserable. Then again, the flock of ostriches advancing in a "Jurassic Park" kind of way, were beautifully designed. The thing that went over my head (probably because I'm thinking with a rational mind), was the way they were chasing the speeding train. The way those lianas made sure they caught up with it, was mindblowing. What ingenious system was constructed to achieve this? I couldn't figure it out immediately. But it still looked really ridiculous.

"The Legend of Tarzan" is suitable material for a cozy movie night . There's sufficient action to enjoy. And Samuel L. Jackson has been recruited to provide the comic relief. Margot Robbie looks breathtaking again as the "lady in distress." And the confrontation between Tarzan and the tribe of Mbonga was brilliant until the digitized gorillas appeared on screen. The easiest part was played by Christoph Waltz. He just had to play himself again. A great actor, but he's stuck in the same routine lately. Despite everything, Tarzan was,is and remains a vibrant legend.

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

Capsule (2015)

Summary 
Guy is an experienced British fighter pilot who is in command of Britain's first manned mission to space. He has trained for this for three years at the height of the Cold War and now he is alone in space with a malfunctioning capsule. He has limited contact with the UK, some unusual communication with the US and some unorthodox communication with Tyuratam deep in Soviet Russia. Who will help him? Will he make the right choice?

Genre : SF/History
Country : UK

Cast : 
Edmund Kingsley : Guy Taylor

Lisa Greenwood : Charlotte Taylor
David Wayman : Harry

Director : Andrew Martin

My opinion

“I realize I’m stuck up here now.
And missed my re-entry point...
but my oxygen is down to 14 percent.
What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Looking for an action packed movie, full of thrills and spills? Such a film full of swirling action scenes or unprecedented conversations? Well just skip this movie then. The film is limited to an impressive solo performance, on board of a manned space capsule launched by the United Kingdom. The spacecraft looks as if Bob the Builder has put together this absurdity. And this indicates that this launch took place long before high-tech space shuttles occupied space. And not only the spacecraft looks primitive, but also Guy Taylor's spacesuit (Edmund Kingsley. Yep son of!) looks as if it's pieced together by the local carnival association. No wonder the amateurish structure starts to show some flaws, which leads to Guy finding himself in a hopeless situation with his capsule out of control and a lack of oxygen causing devastating effects.

Respect to the creators of this low-budget film. It's a considerably low budget, as I could notice during the movie. Except for the opening image of the capsule in space and earth in the background. That looked promising. Unfortunately it's the only spectacular fragment used in the entire film. From then on it's limited to the few square meters available to Guy. And his interactions are also fairly limited. First there is the ghost of his lovely wife Charlotte. Then there's a certain Harry,  from a space center in England, Guy has contact with. And finally he has radio contact with the Russian intelligence service, the CIA and NASA. Apparently the secret services of both superpowers follow this unknown manned space object. Probably they are impressed that a puny, small country such as the U.K., could achieve this. And at the same time they are full of suspicion since we are in the midst of the Cold War.

Kingsley's acting was impressive at times. Then again, there was no one he had to compete with or someone he could surpass when it comes to acting. That was the easy part when you look at it that way. But it was still an admirable piece of work. He effortlessly went through a whole palette of emotional feelings. Panic, euphoria, determination and desperation seized him at the appropriate time. Besides a few stiff looking Russian soldiers, there was nobody else to be seen throughout the film. There were a few implausible moments as well. Especially Guy's clumsy behavior. He looked like a sort of hobbyist and space enthusiast, who applied for the job and indiscriminately pushes a few buttons and randomly replaces a fuse.

All in all this was a fairly boring movie. Not only by the total lack of variety, but also because the outcome was quite disappointing. Granted, you can start fantasizing whether there is some truth to that legend about the success or failure of a manned space flight by England. Even if it sounds credible, with the serious-sounding text during the end credits, I don't believe it's based on true facts. I think this would have made public after the cold war, so the U.K. could take the credits for the first manned spacetrip. As a short film this story would be more appropriate. The duration of the film was too long to fill it with this limited story.

My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB

Independence Day : Resurgence (2016)

Summary 
Two decades after the freak alien invasion that nearly destroyed mankind a new threat emerges. This Alien mothership is more than twice the size as the last one and once again, the world's armies must band together to save the world. Do they have enough firepower or will this battle change and will aliens take over?

Genre : SF
Country : USA

Cast : 
Liam Hemsworth : Jake Morrison

Jeff Goldblum : David Levinson
Bill Pullman : President Whitmore

Director : Roland Emmerich

My opinion

“Are we dead?
We're okay.
You peed in your pants?
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, me too.”

I never thought I would miss Will Smith in a movie. Well, for everything there's a first time. And damn, I missed our friend Smith in this sequel of the blockbuster from 1996. Not because of his acting talent or his good looks. But because of his dry humor and his sometimes hyperactive behavior. Smith was honored by the brief display of a picture somewhere in a presidential corridor. His absence in this film was due to a fatal accident during a test flight (Personally I think the paycheck was a disappointment to him). As a worthy successor his stepson Dylan (Jessie T. Usher and fortunately not Smith's son Jaden himself) is summoned to help.

The big difference with its predecessor, is the total lack of credibility and excitement. In the blockbuster of 1996, the alien invasion was so brilliantly portrayed, that if we ever expect something to happen like this, it'll look exactly the same. In this movie everything is so over the top and out of proportion, that it starts to look ridiculous. For instance the dimensions of the alien ship. This giant ship covers almost a quarter of the planet. The advantage is that the devastation and ravages are so immense that the images of destruction are really impressive. I'm sure the CGI department was asked to get the maximum out of their computer systems. When those immense landing gears of the colossal spaceship dig into the earth's surface, it provides hallucinatory images. Quite some mainland is plowed and a huge tsunami hurtles across the continents. Compared to this, the one in "San Andreas" was a tiny wave.

 

About the story itself. Don't expect too much content or groundbreaking innovations compared to the previous one. It's more or less a second attempt of the alien warlords to conquer Earth and plunder resources. The only difference is that by studying the extraterrestrial material, left behind after the first confrontation, mankind has been able to develop their scientific knowledge drastically. The result is a mega plant on the moon in order to counter new attacks. The creation of a futuristic-looking society. A defense system around our planet by means of armed satellites. And the technology for intergalactic traveling at light speed. However, they didn't realize that twenty years ago a distress signal was sent from an alien ship, situated in the African desert where African rebels waged a long war against Martians which were wandering in the desert. They researched  alien technology  thoroughly. But the disorder in the X-band frequency detected the moment the mother ship was destroyed, apparently was a hard nut to crack . The result is a second attack. An unstoppable attack according to former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) : "They are coming back. And this time we won't be able to stop them”.

The cast is a mixture of veterans who appeared in the old movie and a new generation. So you can see Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner again, as their twenty year older alter ego. Their appearance reminds you again how fast years flew by. Their intelligence is still as fresh and spry as before. Most problems are solved in an instant by shrewd proposals and intuitive inventions. A little too quickly in my opinion. This made it quite implausible. And this way the tension was completely ruined. Furthermore, I couldn't really appreciate the sometimes corny humor. All in all, this second film is a little bit of a setback. Granted, the images look spectacular. The special effects are majestic (but that was to be expected). And the action scenes are phenomenal. But there was no magical moment in this film. It wasn't really that impressive. But when you fancy a visual spectacle, this blockbuster should be on your bucket list. I just hope the descendants of those pesky aliens won't come up with the same idea in 20 years.

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB