1. I apologize for the pausing in the video, I am reading off a note sheet.
2. Here is the video below I was having video format issues.
3. When i mention the woman Anna, that Massimo keeps texting, I meant to say Laura gets jealous that Massimo is talking to another woman. But she should be more worried about being kidnapped.
4. Massimo saves Laura from drowning on the boat which is why they have sex.
I Am Mother is a Netflix original movie starring Rose Byrne, Hilary Swank, and Clara Rugaard. It takes place in a post apocalyptic future were the only human left is Clara Rugaard and a bunch of embryos in tubes. She is being raised by the robot named mother voiced by Rose Byrne. All the sudden another human played by Hilary Swank shows up.
Rose Byrne has voiced robots before. She voiced an IOS system in the movie Jexi and is great at imitating robots. She is cold, calculating, and nurturing all at the same time. Clara Rugaard is a newer actress but is great in this starring role. She has a good relationship with mother and is learning life skills and how to repopulate the earth. She reviews scenarios that requires hard decisions like picking people to save over other people.
The status quo changes when there is a knock on the door of the facility and Hilary Swank comes in claiming there are other humans alive on the outside. Mother starts acting different around the girl and doesn't trust the outsider. The girl isn't sure who to trust now as her whole world is turned upside down.
I Am Mother has great special effects and a compelling story. It has many twists and turns and will keep the audience guessing the whole time. Rose Byrne does an incredible job with voice over and should continue to do it. She should play more artificial and robot voices. 🍔🍔🍔🍔
The Platform is a Netflix original movie about prisoners. Two prisoners are in one level together and a floating platform of food comes down in the middle of the room for a few minutes then goes down to the next level. The prisoners at the higher levels eat like kings, while the prisoners at the bottom fight for scraps. It stars Ivan Massague and Zorion Eguil as the two main prisoners.
It starts out with Massague waking up in the cell with Eguil. Eguil has been here for some time. They get into a deep rooted conversation about greed and consumerism. This movie takes place almost entirely in one room and is extremely dialogue heavy, but it's very engaging and effective. Eguil has a distinctive way of speaking and uses the word "obviously" a lot to verify that he is very sure of himself.
Throughout the movie they try to convince the lower levels to save food for even lower levels. This food platform is a great metaphor for the failed concept of trickle down economics. The prisoners want to send a message to the top about fair treatment. They try to make some food last to the very bottom level and they fight off countless prisoners.
The Platform is a social commentary on wealth distribution in America. It is brilliantly acted and is relevant to today’s problems. It’s extremely engaging and one of the better Netflix original movies. 🍔🍔🍔🍔
Coffee and Kareem is a Netflix original movie starring Ed Helms, Taraji P. Henson, and Terrence Little Gardenhigh. Helms plays a cop who is dating Henson. Gardenhigh is her son and doesn’t like Helms or cops. When both of them witness a drug deal and murder of a crooked cop, they are both on the run. This leads to a lot of funny scenes.
Helms are Gardenhigh have amazing comedic chemistry. The audience can tell they riff off each other and a lot of improve was done here. This is the first starring role for Gardenhigh and he is hilarious. It's always funny when little kids are vulgar in movies. Ed Helms is particularly funny in this because he points out tropes and stereotypes in cop movies.
Betty Gilpin plays a cop and Ronreaco Lee and Andrew Bachelor play drug dealers and they have great comic ability. Gilpin is a crooked cop trying to make money off drug dealing and she has really good riffs with Ed Helms and some good fight scenes. But it’s Lee and Bachelor that are some of the best. Lee is a henchmen that realizes he doesn’t want to do this anymore. Bachelor is trying to move up in the drug ring but during a shootout he plays dead in a really funny way.
The best thing about this movie is that everyone has great comedic skills. Everyone can play off each and all of the jokes feel organic and natural. There is some social commentary on the police force and it's a breakout role for Terrence Little Gardenhigh. This is a great comedy and everyone has great improve skills. This is a must see. 🍔🍔🍔
The Lovebirds is a movie made by Paramount Studios and was supposed to be theaters, but was released on Netflix due to corona virus and theater closings. It stars Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae, who play a couple who witness a murder and are now on the run. Four movie starring two comedians that doesn’t feel very funny or organic. Let’s try and figure out why that is.
The Lovebirds is the type of movie when two characters have to get to a destination or goal and encounter weird or silly situations along the way. Many movies have done this before including Date Night, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, and Game Night. So why does The Lovebirds fail when these movie succeed? First of all, The Lovebirds feels like an amalgam of all of these movies. The random events scenario that these movies have can only be effective if the actors are fully invested. But Rae and Nanjiani are not funny and extremely robotic. For a movie starring two comedians, there is no chemistry between them and they don't play of each other comedically very well. It also doesn't seem that the actors wrote any of their own jokes or had any ad lib.
The movie has three writers and I don't think any of them have really written comedy before. That's why everyone in the movie feels like they are just going through the motions. There is a scene where the two main characters are in some sort of secret society meeting and there are hooded figures. An orgy takes place but even that feels boring and inorganic. An orgy isn't supposed to be boring and that's why the writing of this movie is terrible.
If The Lovebirds had been released in theaters it would have lost a lot of money for Paramount. Normally Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are very funny in their other roles but this movie is devoid of most comedy. I really can't find anything positive to say about The Lovebirds. 🚫🍔 or Zero Burgers
Spenser Confidential, is a Netflix original movie based on the television show, Spenser: For Hire. It stars Mark Wahlberg, Alan Arkin, and Winston Duke. Wahlberg is a former cop who was put in jail for attacking his captain who was doing illegal activities. He gets out of jail, and investigates a murder of two police officers. One of them being the cop he assaulted.
Mark Wahlburg plays his typical Boston character. His performance isn't memorable and he's just going through the motions. Alan Arkin is doing the same thing. He plays his typical sarcastic, smart mouthed old guy that he's played in his last ten movies. The real shame is how Spenser Confidential wastes actor Winston Duke. He is so robotic and this role doesn't showcase his acting abilities at all.
The only fun parts of the movie is when Wahlberg and Duke go on missions together to investigate things and people. Together there is some comedic chemistry and they can play off each other. The problem is these scenes are few and far between. Even if this was an origin movie, there probably won't be a sequel so we won't get to see more team up situations. The movie instead focuses on Wahlburg's relationship with his wife played by Iliza Shlesinger.
Spenser Confidential is another failed attempt to revive an old television show that wasn't that popular. Like so many others before this won't help start a new franchise or helping people remember the original show. 🍔 and 1/2 🍔
The Wrong Missy is a Netflix original romantic comedy starring Lauren Lapkus and David Spade. David Spade has a blind date with Lauren Lapkus who's name is Missy and it's a disaster. Cut to a few months later, David Spade meats another woman named Missy in an airport played by Molly Sims. The two hookup and David Spade texts her and invites her to his company retreat. When Missy arrives at the airport and gets in the seat it turns out to be Lauren Lapkus. David Spade texted the wring Missy.
This is a very different role for Lauren Lapkus. Normally she plays very timid or quiet characters, but this time she is outgoing, confident, and not afraid to be herself. This role really showcases Lapkus's comedic talent. David Spade is always funny reacting to outrageous situations with sarcasm like in Tommy Boy and Black Sheep. There are a lot of funny side characters played by Nick Swardson and Rob Schneider.
As the movie progresses, David Spade is annoyed and embarrassed by Lauren Lapkus. But as David Spade gets to know her, he realizes that she is just what he is looking for. Though he is never overly mean to her. In fact, no character is The Wrong Missy are evil or mean spirited. The Wrong Missy has a great message about not judging people based on first impressions. Spade and Lapkus have good chemistry.
The Wrong Missy is a fun, romantic comedy that is perfect for Netflix. It features a lot of funny characters from other Happy Madison productions and has a good message. It lets the female character in a romantic comedy be over the top and crazy instead of the male character like usual. 🍔🍔🍔 and 1/2 🍔
Extraction is a Netflix original movie released in April 2020 starring Chris Hemsworth. He stars as Tyler Rake, a mercenary who must find and rescue an international crime lords's son. The movie is written by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, who have written many recent marvel movies. It was one of the highest viewed movies at the time of its release so let's see what the hype is about.
The movie starts out with Hemsworth and his team in Australia and they get told about the mission. They are on a cliff and he jumps off into the water. Hemsworth is a person who is numb to dangerous situations. Whether it's having guns pointed at his head or being in many shootouts. He is numb to these situations due to some past traumatic events which explains a lot about his character. Rudhraksh Jaiswal plays Ovi Mahajan, the son of the crime lord. The interactions between him and Hemsworth are the only genuine emotion that Hemsworth shows. These scenes are very heartwarming.
The action scenes in Extraction are intense and shot very well. But there are so many that one can't help but get bored sometimes. There isn't enough scenes of dialogue to make the action feel earned. In fact I was looking forward to more interactions between Hemsworth and Jaiswal. David Harbour plays a contact Hemsworth meets up with for advice. Harbour says how the kid will be a walking target and should just be killed now. There's a lot of realism in this scene as it shows the true darkness of war. The final scenes were somewhat predictable. I thought the end was going to go one of two ways and it did.
This movie is based on a graphic novel called, Cuidad. Maybe the graphic novel had more character development. Action fans will most likely enjoy Extraction for the action and for Hemsworth. But people looking for a more deeper story may be a little disappointed. 🍔🍔 and 1/2 🍔
Next of Kin deserves an honorable mention for the Liam Neeson action movie genre. While it was released way back in 1989, it features Liam Neeson as a character bent on revenge for the murder of a family member. Next of Kin stars Patrick Swayze as Truman Gates, a police officer in Chicago who was from the countryside. His brother played by Bill Paxton gets killed by a crime family and the Gates family wants revenge.
Liam Neeson plays Briar Gates, the older brother of Swayze. He resents Patrick for going to live in the city and is impatient with how slow to police are finding the killer. He goes to Chicago and hunts down the crime family that killed Bill Paxton. The movie devotes a good amount of time to Liam Neeson's revenge. He simply gets a gun and does surveillance on the family and finds their hideout. He even escapes from them when they outnumber him. Overall Liam doesn't make it at the end but justice is served. This is the first time Liam Neeson would play a character seeking vengeance and using skills but not the last. As for the movie as a whole, it well done but nothing you will remember in a few years. 🍔🍔
Cold Pursuit was released in 2019 and stars Liam Neeson as Nels Coxman, a snow plow driver, who’s son is killed by drug dealers. This is the tenth and most recent action movie in the Liam Neeson action genre. This movie is a straight forward revenge movie similar to Taken. These movies have come full circle.
Liam Neeson’s son works as airport employee in Colorado, where the movie takes place. Liam Neeson is a snow plow driver, and recent receipt of person of the year in the small town. The son is killed by drug dealers when he witnesses something he shouldn't have. When Liam finds out he goes full revenge mode. He first thinks about killing himself, but gets revenge instead. He uses snow removal tools to kill and dispose of the bodies. Whenever someone dies in the movie, the screen cuts to black and the persons name and alias are displayed on screen.
Instead of just killing nameless and faceless henchmen, Cold Pursuit does something somewhat unique. Before Liam kills a henchmen, a five to ten minute scene is showcasing the henchman's personality and alias. The audience gets to know a little bit about the person being killed. While none of them are good people, the audience knows something about them. The drug kingpin named Trevor Calcote, in the movie is played by Tom Bateman. He is a smart talking, health obsessed drug dealer who has an understanding with the native american group who also deals drugs. There are uneasy feelings between the two groups and Liam Neeson is caught up in the middle.
Cold Pursuit dedicates a lot time to the villains with long periods of time without Liam Neeson on screen. But when he is on screen, he is focused on avenging his sons murder. The movie alludes to the fact that Liam had a previous in mob activity. His brother played by William Forsythe, worked for the Calcote family years earlier. In terms of the final movie in the Liam Neeson action genre, Liam is avenging someone close to him and he has a particular set of skills. We have come full circle with Liam Neeson's action career over the last eleven years. In those eleven years, he’s had a particular set of skills whether is CIA skills, NYPD, mob tactics, espionage, or hunting wolves. He’s been redeemed from low points and been solving mysteries. The Liam Neeson action genre has had some variations but the core elements are in every movie. His story started simple and ended simple.🍔🍔🍔
Liam Neeson stars in the 2018 movie The Commuter. This is the fourth time Neeson has teamed up with director Jaume Collet-Serra. Neeson stars as former cop Michael Macauley and now is an insurance salesman who was recently let go from his job. He rides the train to the city every day and is familiar with the train and its passengers.
Liam meets at a bar with a one of his old NYPD friends played by Patrick Wilson. He talks about life and money. There is always the old friend in the movie that will betray the main character later on. Liam gets on the train after being let go and a mysterious woman played by Vera Farmiga starts asking weird hypothetical questions about what you would do for a large sum of money. She reveals that the hypothetical is real and she has to find an informat named Prinn and he is free to go. Liam tries to figure out which passenger is Prinn by interrogating them and learning more about them now.
Once again like in Unknown and Non-Stop, Liam is alone to figure out a mystery. He must figure out who Vera Farmiga is working for and find Prinn in time. He uses his police skills to notice things on the train and point out flaws in peoples deceit. Liam's family is taken to force him to kill Prinn. He is fighting a shadow organization and doesn’t know how big it really is.
Liam once again plays a former Irish cop. He has skills he uses to figure out the mystery going on. He isn’t in need of redemption this time but many other trademarks of the Liam Neeson action genre are present. There is the ever present mystery element and there is a great ending payoff. The Commuter is a great addition to the Liam Neeson genre. 🍔🍔🍔
