Crossing Point (2016)

Summary :
A young American couple in love, Michael and Olivia are on vacation in Baja, but things take a frightening turn when Olivia is kidnapped by a drug dealer, who demands that Michael smuggle a backpack full of cocaine-stolen from a rival cartel-over the border into the U.S. within twelve hours or else Olivia will be killed. A Tijuana Cop is on the trail, as Michael navigates the treacherous underworld of Mexico, and he himself becomes a force to be reckoned with...

Genre : Action
Country : USA

Cast : 
Shawn Lock : Michael

Jacob Vargas : Jesus
Rudy Youngblood : Mateo

Director : Daniel Zirilli

My opinion : 

"Crossing Point" is that kind of action thriller you could hire with the dozen at the local video store in former times. It isn't very original and certainly it's not a groundbreaking film. Actually, you can safely put it under the category "Haven't we seen it before?". It certainly can't compete with, lets say "Sicario", which also takes place under the blazing Mexican sun. And yet it wasn't such a bad movie afterall. It's not just brainless action the whole time. It's more about the nerve-racking race of Michael (Shawn Lock) as he seeks his way to the Mexican border. Expect the known ingredients you'd typically encounter in such a Mexican drug story. First there's this Mexican beauty. Also there are some ugly and ruthless members of a drug gang. And finally a helpful local gang.

The basic story actually isn't so special. Michael and Olivia (Maria Gabriela de Faria) are enjoying a relaxing holiday in Tijuana along with two friends. They spend their time surfing and partying. Until Olivia suddenly disappears from the hotel and Michael ends up with four wrapped packets of cocaine. He must get those across the border within 12 hours or else he won't see his girlfriend back alive. What follows is a race against the clock including a confrontation with a local gang and invoking the help of a local criminal called Pedro (Tom Sizemore). And on top of that, there's this resolute police inspector Jesus (Jacob Vargas) who's determined to solve a case about missing young tourists.

You see. Nothing new and even the twist in the end isn't really surprising. But still this low-budget indie movie managed to captivate me. In addition, Shawn Lock played a convincing part as the desperate friend. Although the transformation from the attractive, cool, surfing friend into an extremely skillful defensive action figure (who could handle a handgun without blinking an eye), was a bit exaggerated. The least convincing roles were those of Gabriela de Faria, she just showed up to exhibit her irresistible beauty (with a steamy shower scene as a bonus, although it was strategically filmed) and the two surfer friends who completed the gang. Luckily the contributions of those two was fairly limited, because this wasn't exactly a paragon of good acting. Rudy Youngblood was terrifying as the mastermind Mateo, although it sometimes felt as forced acting. And this time I thought it was a shame that Tom Sizemore had a limited contribution and briefly acted as the local criminal. Compared with "Weaponized", his role here was acceptable. But the one who looked the most charismatic and convincing, was Jacob Vargas.

Altogether a not too bad action movie. Despite the limited budget, they've succeeded to create a mix of professional-looking footage, matching music and not so bad interacting protagonists. The action is not excessive but the pace is stunningly high. After seeing some crime films taking place in these parts of the U.S., I'm going to skip Mexico as a holiday destination for sure.

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

Freaks of Nature (2015)

Summary :
In the town of Dillford, humans, vampires and zombies were all living in peace - until the alien apocalypse arrived. Now three teenagers-one human, one vampire and one zombie-have to team up to figure out how to get rid of the visitors.

Genre : Horror/Comedy
Country : USA

Cast : 
Nicholas Braun : Dag

Mackenzie Davis : Petra
Josh Fadem : Ned

Director : Robbie Pickering

My opinion : 

“I think I'm having brain withdrawals.”

Completely hilarious. That's my feeling about "Freaks of nature". First I was afraid this would be another high school teenmovie. Eventually this turned out to be a rather absurd, horror-comedy. A kind of "Porkies in Zombieland" with vampires, zombies and a crazy army of aliens passing through. Of course the known types of youngsters were used again. As expected. First you have the cool student Dag (Nicholas Braun) who abandoned his friend Ned (Josh Fadem) because this one still acted nerdy. Of course he's madly in love with the girl next door Lorelei (Vanessa Hudgens), who looks tremendously tasty, but ultimately it's an impossible love because she's hooked up with a local jock. And last but not least, there's also the pathetic girl Petra (Mackenzie Davis) who was bullied by everyone. The moment this concept became clear, I sighed again in an irritated way. But after seeing a group of zombies getting of a schoolbus and moving towards the school entrance in their well-known manner plus a macho vampire who tries to seduce Petra in the next scene, it became clear that this could well be an entertaining film.

It certainly was entertaining. I myself am quite a fussy when it comes to comedy and humor. Rarely it happens that I start laughing spontaneously. Usually it's just a muffled chuckle or a modest smile. But this time there were a few occasions I had to laugh out loud. Especially the zombie community was hilarious. After the alien invasion, each population began to accuse the others and suspected them of participating in a conspiracy. As a result they all held their own public meeting where they encouraged eachother to take action. Needless to say, the meeting of the zombie community was the most calm and subdued one. Funny as hell. The principle of differences between the classes was incorporated shrewdly. The interference of a third party which turned all these groups against each other, looks familiar. Only the resulting confrontation is pretty bloody and ends up in a huge splatter fest (Only it's sometimes difficult to distinguish who's attacking who) with quite a few severed limbs.

Maybe I'm a bit too enthusiastic about this horror-comedy, because lets be honest, it's a pretty simple story without too many surprises or intricate storylines. It's a mishmash of genres they've mixed together. They've kept it lightly and certainly farcical. It sometimes looked like a slapstick horror. And speaking about horror. You should take that with a grain of salt, because this movie won't give you the creeps. Lets shed a light on the makeup and special effects. The only part that didn't look so great, was the one with the space invaders. That one really looked old-fashioned. The vampires seemed to be borrowed from the "Twilight" saga. It was the zombie mob that looked sublime. Here the makeup artists really used their complete imagination.

"Freaks of nature" is a true B-movie. Normally the acting is also of a questionable level in that case. Surprisingly this wasn't so bad at all here. I suppose the actors had fun doing this flick, since this was very clear to see sometimes. The most hilarious rendition is that of Josh Fadem. The intelligent nerd who came up with this superb idea so he'd be free of all worries. His facial expressions and way of doing sometimes was enormously funny. And you'll clearly recognize parodies of well-known films. And finally Dag's totally crazy parents. For a moment I thought it was Adam Sandler who played the father. That would be one of his first roles I really could appreciate. The biggest let down was the climax of the story. Too ridiculous for words. But maybe so ridiculous, it became somewhat funny. I'm sure most will forget this film. But as an inbetweener this wasn't so bad, even though there was an oversupply of horror characters.

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB

Cash Only (2015)

Summary :
Elvis Martini is in deep trouble. He's in big debt to bookies and his daughter's school and his building is about to be foreclosed on. He finds cash in an evicted tenant's apartment and it briefly keeps the wolves at bay, but it brings out an even bigger wolf. His daughter is kidnapped and Elvis has 24 hours to come up with $25K. Cash only.

Genre : Crime
Country : USA

Cast : 
Nickola Shreli : Elvis Martini

Stivi Paskoski : Dino
Malik Bader : Kush

Director : Malik Bader

My opinion : 

“Well I'm Elvis, the king of lowlife tenants.”

 
It might not be so horrible and disgusting as "A Serbian Film" (I refuse to watch that one because of the immoralities appearing in it), but because of the finale it might deserve the title "An Albanian Film". Not that this part was so groundbreaking horrible, but it was intense anyway. This indie crime shows the self-destructive process of an accumulating debt and the eternal struggle to repay it. That's something Elvis Martini is facing in everyday life. His first name is somewhat unfortunate in this case, because I'm sure his legendary namesake didn't have that problem. You can't say "Cash Only" is very original, but the movie is painfully realistic and pure.

Elvis Martini (Nickola Shreli) isn't exactly a choirboy either. In the past he was found guilty of insurance fraud after setting his house on fire, with a prison sentence as a result (not to mention an even bigger personal loss). Gambling probably raised the debt as well. The basement area of the building where he rents apartments, is used by some weird guy who's growing lots of marijuana there. And in addition, he also replaces additional rental payments by sleeping with the girlfriend of his best friend. But despite these shortcomings, I felt sorry for this landlord who's fighting against loosing everything. In a desperate way he tries to survive and raise his daughter in a decent manner. The way he's deceived by his tenants, shows that he's not as ruthless. Only kicking out a callgirl and confiscating her possessions, proved to be a gross mistake.

"Cash only" is rough and gray. A sketch of an American slum with an Albanian population seeking to pursue the American dream. Afterwards they come to the conclusion that it's just a daily struggle where the law of the strongest rules. Albanians aren't the most peaceful citizens but value the concepts of honor and keeping a promise. Something Elvis also experiences. However it's sometimes the opposite. Nobody really respects him. It's as if everyone tries to take advantage of other people's desperate situation. That this socially critical picture was replaced subsequently by a violent kidnapping scenario, surprised me somewhat. A grim and excessive ending.

Nickola Shreli (who also co-wrote this film) was extremely convincing. Both as the pitiful landlord, as the energetic and determined father. All in all a laudable role. The other supporting roles are functional but not particularly impressive. Malik Bader played a guest role as the crazy Kush who dwelt in higher spheres in the basement of Elvis. Obviously, this was the most amusing part. Stivi Paskoski took care of the most psychotic role. Despite the cliché elements from other crime films, the shocking (but not too gory) denouement left a reasonable impression.

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB

London has Fallen (2016)

Summary :
After the British Prime Minister has passed away under mysterious circumstances, all leaders of the Western world must attend his funeral. But what starts out as the most protected event on earth, turns into a deadly plot to kill the world's most powerful leaders and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. The President of the United States, his formidable secret service head and a British MI-6 agent who trusts no one are the only people that have any hope of stopping it.

Genre : Action
Country :UK/USA

Cast : 
Gerard Butler : Mike Banning

Aaron Eckhart : Benjamin Asher
Morgan Freeman : Allan Trumbull

Director : Babak Najafi

My opinion : 

“We're bringing the war, to you.
Make no mistake.
This is the day, when your world changes forever.”

Dumbest movie of the year. A sort of sequel to "Olympus Has Fallen" but this time the battlefield is moved to the UK. Especially to the metropolis of London. The same key figures were gathered again. Aaron Eckhart plays again the role of US President Benjamin Asher who managed to survive a terrorist attack by overzealous North Koreans in the previous film. And this with the help of the disgraced secret agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler). Morgan Freeman is back again to take over the President's tasks as Vice President as soon as Asher ends up in an awkward position. This time it's during the solemn funeral of the Prime Minister of England. The idea of Butler to hang his secret agent braces on the peg (as he's about to become a father), is forgotten temporarily so that he can accompany the President to this state funeral.

The moment the most important government leaders arrive for the ceremony at St Paul's cathedral, all hell breaks loose. London is being reduced to a smoldering war zone where major known landmarks are transformed into ruins and twisted steel. Admittedly, it sometimes looks impressive and this chaotic situation is shown in a convincing way. But you can't say that the special effects are very present-day. They look downright lousy sometimes. Especially the crash of the Presidential helicopter looked like crap.

I admire the policeofficer on the right. Cold blooded and deadly calm. The way he looks so untroubled while everyone is running away from all the mayhem. As if he’s asking himself : “Blimey, why are those crazy sods running away so nervously. Nothing is happening, isn’t it?”

Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy an action-soaked movie once and a while. Such an action movie where you have to put your brains on mute momentarily. But there's a difference between mindless and entertaining action pulp and a plain utter dumb spectacle. When suddenly half of London throws off his disguise during the most secured ceremony and starts to kill every bystander (even a grenade launcher appeared from under a djellaba), this felt downright ridiculous. Maybe it's suitable for raising the level of spectacle. But after the terrorist attacks we faced recent years, this was absolutely insulting. I can imagine that people who do their best while working for the national security, would be pissed and turn their back towards this film after seeing such an amateurish organization.

To be honest, I thought "Olympus Has Fallen" had a bit of originality, although it shamelessly copied the "Die Hard" formula. But this film smells purely of commercial extortion. So they can exploit the moderate success of the previous one even more. Adding the sentimental topic of Banning's pregnant wife and the wrenching dilemma Mike is facing, was a weak attempt to bring some variation. And don't get me started about the cheesy dialogue and failed attempts to bring some humor. Only the parodies on some European government leaders (with a flirty Berlusconi as highlight), I could appreciate a bit. I'm just hoping there won't be a group of insane morons who'll use this film as a guide to try something similar anywhere in the world.

My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB

One & Two (2015)

Summary :
Zac and Eva live with their parents in isolated-mysterious farmhouse. The family lives' in the 1800s manner and doing the old-fashioned chores. When their mom becomes seriously ill, the sibling begins to discover family dark secrets and supernatural abilities to teleport themselves, which threaten a family to splintered. One and Two is the story about the bond and love between the siblings. 

Genre : Drama/Fantasy
Country :USA

Cast :

Kiernan Shipka : Eva
Timothée Chalamet : Zac
Grant Bowler : Daniel
Elizabeth Reaser : Elizabeth

Director : Andrew Droz Palermo

My opinion : 

 "Dad says it's to keep other people out.
But Idon't believe him anymore.
We're the only ones here.
I think it's just meant to keep us in.” 

"One and Two" is a kind of pastoral version of "The Maze Runner" and "Jumpers". A magical place at an unknown place where Eva (Kiernan Shipka) and Zac (Timothée Chalamet) live a carefree life. Under the scrutiny of their mother Elizabeth (Elizabeth Reaser) and their tyrannical father Daniel (Grant Bowler) the two teenagers grow up while they perform the assigned daily tasks. It looks a bit like "Little house on the prairie". Only the beautifull farm and the idyllic setting are surrounded by an immense wooden fence. A kind of natural barrier to separate Eva and Zac from the outside world. Why and how long this commune exists, isn't thoroughly explained in movie filled with beautiful images. And that isn't the only thing.

 

I wonder what genre of film they actually had in mind. A kind of superhero film in which two innocent looking teens have a limited superpower? Or a "coming of age" film with two growing teenagers whose desire it is to finally be able to discover the outside world? Or was religious fanaticism and the associated superstition the central theme? All these themes were incorporated into this film. But really well developed they weren't. The second part with Eva mainly starring in it, actually was pretty disappointing. The arising situation was ideal to add more energetic elements.

The performances are subtly executed, despite their simplicity. Brother and sister obediently carry out everything in the daytime and devoutly recite their prayers before supper. Their daily routine is only interrupted by a swim in a local pond. And in the evening their rebellious nature kicks in and they play tag in the fields while they use their mysterious force. Next there is Daniel. A devout father who fears this mystery and blames this demonic evil to be the cause of the deteriorating health of his wife. Shipka is most in the spotlight because Chalamet disappears after a while into the background. All play their roles well, even though the content is rather meager.

But especially the camera work deserves the most praise. This is already clear from the opening scene with the sunlight illuminating water, after which it's suddenly interupted by the diving bodies of Eva and Zac. A brilliant light show which was shot very professionally. The nocturnal escapades of the two are beautifully filmed. It's just the unanswered questions that kills this film. What's the use of the great wall since Eva and Zac effortlessly can teleport through it? Also sneaking back in their bedroom at night was kind of ridiculous. Why didn't they use the same procedure as they used before? And where did this special gift come from? Eventually "One and two" was intriguing and contained an interesting topic, but it wasn't satisfactory enough. Sometimes there are films which aren't impressive in terms of content, but the design and cinematic framing still ensure that it remains fascinating and it is worthwhile to see it till the end.

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB