“WICKED” IS A MUSICAL MASTERPIECE!

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - WICKED [2024] - PG - Directed by Jon M. Chu. Written by Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox. Songs by Stephen Schwartz. Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande-Butera, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum. Budget $150 Million.

This film is a quasi-prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Following the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, Galinda [Grande], the Witch of the West, recalls the earlier life of Elphaba [Erivo] and the trials and tribulations she went through in her earlier years. Through many song and dance acts, an emotional story begins to unfold, presenting that Elphaba has had a hard life, being born with green skin and always been separated from her father and always a step behind her little sister, who was crippled at birth. Over time, she is exposed to going to a "school of arts" where she accidentally presents to the entire school that she has sorcerer-type powers [of sort] that catches the eyes of one of the leading members of the school faculty. During this time there is a political shift against talking animals, who were professors that taught many of the students in important subjects, forcing many of these teachers to leave the school. Later, after some training in her powers she is welcomed to meet the Wizard of Oz at the Emerald City. Elphaba realizes the truth about the Wizard of Oz and begins to rebel against the norms of the society that has been played as a "perfect society."

THE GOOD - Brilliant wardrobe choices and top of the line use of blue screen and practical effects. Singing seems live and dancing performances are well choreographed. The story telling and reboot of the original “WIZARD OF OZ” movie was brilliantly thought out and put to a proper screenplay. Outstanding use of lighting and cinematography!

THE BAD - There’s lots of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) casting within the large ensemble of extras in this film. Every other cut in the film shows a diverse breed of actors from straight, to gay, to transgender, to black actors galore. There is also a showing of “group inclusion” with bullying that hits deep against the leading actress. The bullying presented is very reminiscent of today’s issues with American youths in school ending with the obvious retort of a student whose “had enough.”

POSTMORTEM - This is a spectacular film. I’m not a huge fan of theater-stage type musicals and I was actually getting ready to walk out of the movie during the first 30 minutes. But the production suddenly twisted a direction that was more enjoyable to the male audience, giving a better story line to follow, building towards a disruptive plot line that brought the original film’s plot into view and makes you rethink the prior history; the back dealings that possibly occurred before Dorothy arrived to Oz. There are some tremendous, emotional and song performances by Erivo and Grande that are sure to win them Oscars in 2025.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [4 of 5 Stars]

PEACOCKS "SPEAK NO EVIL" IS A SOUND THRILLER!...

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - SPEAK NO EVIL [2024] - [R] - Peacock - Directed & Written by James Watkins. Screenplay by James Watkins. Produced by Jason Blum through Blumhouse Productions. Based on the book "Speak No Evil" by Christian & Mads Tafdrup. Starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Scoot McNairy, Dan Hough, and Alex West Lefler. Budget $15 Million.

A married couple, Ben & Louise [Davis and McNairy], are traveling in Italy where they meet a another married couple, Paddy & Ciara [McAvoy and Franciosi], who invite them out to their European villa for a week to relax in a quiet, ranch home for a time to reflect. Each couple has one child [Hough and Lefler] and they bring everyone together to breath in the fresh atmosphere. Ben and Louise find some small details that bother them throughout their stay, but Paddy has the ability to quell their fears and constant questioning of the little things they find. As time passes, Paddy becomes more and more aggressive, which threatens the visiting family and their child. Before anyone knows it, the visiting family falls into both mental and physical psychological danger, forcing them to try and outsmart Paddy and his plan to take over the mental stability of the family.

THE GOOD - Pristine and simple cinematography. Some of the overhead 4K drone footage is breathtaking. The sound and editing is top notch. I truly enjoyed the character development, presenting the strengths and weaknesses of all the mature characters being presented. Location spotting was perfect for presenting the story. This has to be one of McAvoy's best and sharp performances as a psycho, narcissistic powerhouse who seems to grow larger in mass as the temperament in the movie increases.

THE BAD - Not all of the film was apparently shot in 6K digital. There are some scenes that are washed out with a slight haze on the corners of the film. There was a lot of soft lighting [or natural light] that was used which increased the shadows on certain angles of the casts faces. Little use of steady-cams on some scenes that seemed to be short and rushed.

POSTMORTEM - This is a damn good film. The tension was high, so much so that I was on the edge of my seat throughout the intense scenes and there was a good closing at the end of film, ensuring that there would be no sequels. Franciosi was perfectly cast as a deranged wife who supported her husband to the edge of insanity. But supreme kudos to child actor Dan Hough, who didn't speak a word in the film, but delivered a dramatic, realistic  performance that helped seal the deal to present you a blistering dramatic film.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [4 of 5 Stars]

RUN HIDE FIGHT [2020] IS A STUNNER OF A FILM!!!

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - RUN HIDE FIGHT [2020] - R - DailyWire - Directed and written by Kyle Rankin. Produced by Amanda Presmyk & Dallas Sonnier. Starring Isabel May, Radha Mitchell, Thomas Jane, Eli Brown, Treat Williams, and Olly Sholotan. Budget $1.5 Million.

Zoe Hull [May] is an intelligent teenager who recently lost her mother. She was taught to track and hunt by her father [Jane], a military veteran, and is a proven survivor respected by teachers and most of the students at her school. On "Senior Prank Day" several mentally deranged students, many who have been bullied in the past by other prominent students as well as teachers, take over the school cafeteria by force, shooting and stabbing some students and teachers and forcing them to watch and record their terror on their phones. Images of the entire school shooting are presented online, as the school fails to act quickly enough to the shooters premeditated plans to kill many, spread dysfunction to their town, and escape in a fiery hell. In a moment of clarity while she could just run away, Zoe decides to re-enter the school and save as many students as she can; all while facing the demons of losing her mother to suicide.

THE GOOD - Casting was top notch. Isabel May performs at top level with a unique ability to shift emotions as the environment falls down around her. Some impressive low-budget effects, with solid directing during some intensely dramatic scenes. The sound was good. Cinematography was pretty impressive. Thomas Jane [also known to have once played "The Punisher"] plays a very believable military veteran and father, who sets out to take action to stop the school shooters.

THE BAD - For all of the violence, there's very little blood in the movie. Some of the scenes were shot in lower film quality and angles that keep the viewer from seeing the damage caused by the school shooters, which would have elevated the tension.

POSTMORTEM - This film is definitely a nail-biter. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, cheering the leading actress as she progressed through the school trying her best to warn the other teachers and classmates. I understand that for many who actually lived through an experience like this film, it might be hard to see, but the ending is worth all the misery that was presented throughout the film, especially with recent events where police forces acted too slow. This low-budget indie film was purposely made to stun audiences depicting real events that brought a dark clouds in our nations weakness with the lack of student safety during school hours. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [4.5 of 5 Stars]

THE LAST ISSUE OF THE QSE.357 FOR 2024 IS RELEASED!

QSE.357 ISSUE 39 of 10/1/2024

52 Pages

ON THE COVER - Rachel "Wilder" Whaley
Promo Photo by Micro Photography

MAIN ARTICLES

A Busy Year for the QSE.357 - WE have tons and tons of never before released photos and liner notes from cast & crew members regarding several promo photo shoots and film projects. There are some great memories openly shared and a special look back at some issues from 2022 & 2023.

Studio Leading Actors - The QSE Awards for 2024 are out and statuettes are getting ready for delivery! The QSE Awards list is enclosed with a special category for teenage actor awards.

What to expect in 2025 - Every year the QSE.357 E-Mag changes format, always bringing you the best entertainment for all of our subscribers. Our opinionated publication is spreading out to many areas of the globe, presenting stories
from a large number of studios.

 YOU MUST BE A SUBSCRIBER TO VIEW THE FULL CONTENTS THIS NEW 2024 ISSUE OF THE QUANTUM STORM .357 E-MAGAZINE AND FOLLOW THIS BLOG

 Thank you for stopping by!

 

 

"THE SHIFT" WAS NOT AS IMPRESSIVE AS IT'S TRAILER

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - THE SHIFT [2023] - AppleTV - PG13 - Directed & written by Brock Heasley. Produced by Brock Heasley and Ken Carpenter. Starring Kristoffer Polaha, Neal McDonough, Elizabeth Tabish, Rose Reid and John Billingsley. Budget $6.4 million.

Kevin Garner [Polaha] meets the love of his life, Molly [Tabish], at a bar just after losing his job. He's a recovering alcoholic who stumbles to get back on his feet, even after raising a small family. After having an argument with his wife, he goes to work, loses his job and on his way home he is in a car accident. He awakens to find himself being talked to a man called "The Benefactor" [McDonough], who approaches Garner, telling him that his life has essentially been "adjusted" for the needs of the Benefactors life plan. Garner is tempted at a change in his life, but feels that something is wrong and begins to pray to God for direction, which forces the Benefactor away, and Garner finds himself in a strange world, where everyone is afraid and unable to break away from a city filled with less spiritual people and godlike guidance in their lives. He begins to suspect that The Benefactor may be Satan, straying him away from a honest, spiritual life. He outsmarts the demon to find his way to a new life, a strong marriage, and a family that every man could dream for.

THE GOOD - There's a strong, modest start to the story telling. The plot is pretty strong with some shocking twists and turns. Visual effects are impressive and the sound is pristine. Neal McDonough looked comfortable bringing the character of The Benefactor to life, giving him a mysterious and dubious presentation.

THE BAD - Low Quality 4K cinematography with some very amateur camera tricks and special effects that all look pretty outdated. Poloaha's performance lacked a real life quality essential to make the character of Garner feel realistic enough to make you care. The supporting actors were plenty, but their performances were anything but marginal to effect the outcome of the films plot.

POSTMORTEM - After watching a one minute clip trailer to this film somewhere, I was driven to watch it and hope that the rest of the film delivered a dramatic, paranormal, and exciting product. The entire story fell apart after the plateau of the features most climactic arc, during the first ten minutes of the film. There are wasted efforts trying to present misdirection when the obvious plot line was presented after the initial introduction of The Benefactor. This isn't a good movie. There's very little entertainment and the director certainly fails to deliver a gospel-like message at the end of the fairy tale.

⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars] 

ANTHONY HOPKINS PERFORMANCE IN "MAGIC" [1978] IS BEYOND TRILLING!

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - MAGIC [1978] - [R] - Amazon Prime - Directed by Richard Attenborough. Screenplay by William Goldman. Based on the book by William Goldman. Produced by Joseph E. and Richard P. Levine. Stars Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Ed Lauer, and David Ogden Stiers. Budget $7 Million.

This is a dark drama about a down and out magician/comedian, Charles "Corky" Withers [Hopkins], who is slowly dwindling away performing at sketchy bars to minimal crowds, but he boasts to his mentor, Merlin, that he has great attendance with tentatively active crowds. After his mentor passes, Withers creates a fantastic ventriloquist act with a dummy named Fats. His new gimmick catches the eye of a talent agent [Meredith], who persuades many producers to "Give the new kid a shot." But the problem is that Corky has a building inner fear with self doubt of being successful and  is in terror of reaching for the stars. It's such a problem that he steps away from the limelight and returns to his hometown where he meets and falls for his old high school crush, Peggy Snow [Margret]. He rents a local cabin and tries to sort his feelings about success, using his dummy to try and find answers. But along the way, the dummy seems to guide Corky in the wrong direction, causing great harm to anyone who questions him or tries to help him.

THE GOOD - Crisp cinematography. Strong direction and a brilliant one-man performance by Hopkins. The addition of Ann-Margret was a nice touch for the time and Meredith's performance was starkly familiar with the "Micky" character from ROCKY [1975] that made his part extremely likeable and trustworthy. Location spotting was perfect for the production, giving the film a dark, dying feel to the whole film.

THE BAD - The movie plateaus too soon in my opinion. There is a desperate feel to make Corky seem too paranoid about his surroundings which forces Hopkins to perform the character with an explosive, bipolar fuel of instant anger that just seems over dramatic and drawn out at times. I'm not 100% sure the music fit the film, but it seems that the sound track was rushed an not thought-out well.

POSTMORTEM - This film was filmed with the use of one camera. Most of the scenes were shot in a "soap opera" style format used in the time of the 70's which forced the actors to perform at a higher level. Even though the scenes with dummy was creepy, I feel that the scenes were dumbed down for the audience, leaving some to speculate as to whether the dummy had a mind of its own or not. This is a classic film and something great to watch if you like watching realistic, psychotic, dramatic films.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]

NETFLIX'S "UZUMAKI" TAKES STRANGE & WEIRD TO THE NEXT LEVEL!...

🎥🎞️Series Review🎞️🎥 - UZUMAKI [2024] - [PG13] - NetFlix - Directed by Higuchinsky. Screenplay by Takao Niita. An animated Manga-style series based on the graphic novel by Junito Ito. Produced by Sumiji Miyake. Voice actors; Abby Trott, Robbie Dsymond, Christina Valenzuella, Max Mittelman, Aaron LaPlante, and Mona Marshall.

A young girl named Kirie Goshima [Abby Trott] initially wandering around walking in circles. Over time, some people and close friends have disappeared, others have become deformed or have transformed through metamorphosis into another species, but all have been marked by a spiraling bruise prior to transformation or becoming deformed. This girl has to learn what is causing these transformations, some which has proven to be painful and others have shown to be dangerous and deadly to innocent people in the immediate area, and try to prevent exposure to this apparent "spiral syndrome" that is devouring everyone within her little world.

THE GOOD - The animation and graphic detail are outstanding and consistent throughout the series. The visualization of many of the nightmarish scenes strike a chord with horror. The editing and progression of the story from one scene to another is smooth. There is a constant creepy feel to each episode and some of the transformations and death scenes are jaw dropping. The best part of some of the scenes are the ones that contain one-liner jokes that are tossed about freely and perfectly performed by the voice actors. 

THE BAD - As with most animated films, there are scenes with a lot of dialog that occurs during the slower portions of series; some of it useful, but a lot of it worthless.

POSTMORTEM - This series is so intertwined with well designed morbid graphics that one can't shake off the immediate uncomfortable feeling of what to expect next. The mystery is expertly hidden throughout the series run and you will not be able to figure out the stories angle to find an alternative way to combat the entity that has smothered Kirie's little town. The real answer at the end of series will take your expectations to the next level. As much as I liked this series, the black and white presentation helps build the creepy vibe. I don't think this series would work has as much if it were produced in color or with live actors.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]

NETFLIX'S "LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND" SHOULD BE LEFT BEHIND THE DUMPSTER!...

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND [2023] - PG13 - Nextflix - Directed by Sam Esmail. Based on a book by Rumaan Alam. Produced by Julia Roberts, Sam Esmail, Barrack Hussien Obama, Michelle Obama, Lisa Gillian, Chad Hamilton. Stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, Myha'la, and Kevin Bacon.

A little girl [Mackenzie] is on a family vacation to Long Island where the sudden loss of the internet, GPS, and cell service systems leaves the little girl in a proverbial lurch from watching the last episode of Friends. The world about her gets strange, as animals start acting weird, her brother [Evans] has the "instant hots" for a foul mouthed black teen [Myha'la], her flirtatiously drunk mother [Roberts] takes a nibble of making moves on a black man [Ali] who she initially hates meeting at first, and finds out just how useless her father [Hawke] truly is in life altering situations. As the days pass, strange alliances begin to form and even though there are signs that the world has fallen into silence and that [apparently] boats and planes can't function without GPS technology, the little girl struggles to find out what happens at the end of the Friends Television series, even distancing herself from her family, to finally watch the last episode by herself. - Honestly, that's the whole movie! -

THE GOOD - Epic cinematography. Good sound. Good visual effects. Lighting was fine, editing okay.

THE BAD - Lots and lots of dialog between actors. Bad screenplay. Useless character development. Lack of story. Complete misuse of a strong cast. Bad story telling. Bad ending. Lack of story arc. Lack of story details. 

POST MORTEM - COMPLETE DOGSHIT!!! - Definitely the shittiest movie I've ever seen. This film was given some credence because it garnered some attention from the Obama family who decided to help with the story and production, but they were obviously helping two Muslim filmmakers start a career in movie making - sorry to be so political. Lots of white shaming going on in this train wreck...well, more like slow drowning in shallow water. Roberts almost kisses a black man, and Myha'la made it clear in the film [with passion] that she was not going to fuck a white man whose son had the hots for her; totally uncalled for and not professional at all in film story telling. There's nothing cute or smart about this film. There's never any information shared about what is transpiring or why. The gaps in the "secretive nature" of Esmail's character is just dumb and ill prepared in being dramatic. Don't believe the attempt to scare you about how something scary could happen in today's technological world, and seriously don't waste your time on this crap. NONE of what transpires in this film will EVER happen in real life....and don't EVEN get me started on the bad ending!

💩💩💩💩💩 [5 of 5 Poops]

HBOMAX CLAIMS THE WORST FILM OF 2024 WITH "SALEM'S LOT"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - SALEM'S LOT [2024] - [R] - HBOMax - Directed & written by Gary Dauberman. Produced by James Wan, Michael Clear, Roy Lee, Mark Wolper. Stars Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Pilou Asbaek, Spencer Treat Clark, William Sadler, Alfre Woodard, Bill Camp, and Jordan Preston.

Inspired from the now famous Stephen King book, a writer [Pullman] returns home for inspirational purposes. After a short while, local nieghbors, old friends, and a few kids start disappearing and he beings to understand that something strange is occurring and endangering all of the local townsfolk. Before he can actually grasp the type of danger he is in, he learns that a vampire is turning all of the towns people into vampires who are quickly spreading their demon-like life around like a deadly virus. 

THE GOOD - The cinematography is impressive. There's some notable editing and the movie flows seamlessly from one scene to another. The lighting is on par with a good production shooting scenes clearly at night. There's no over acting. Great use of location spotting. The sound is above what I expected.

THE BAD - There's nothing creepy about this film. There's a lot of under-acting by several extras. The story arc, even though it may resemble Stephen King's book, is an off shoot with the director/writer taking a lot of liberties that don't work. Tons of 80's horror effects and bad acting concerning the convergence of people turning into vampires. Silly use of cut-aways; where some vampires just suddenly disappear into the dark. There's bad gore, bad delivery of jump-scares.

POST MORTEM - This is a bad movie. Almost "slasher-like" and it was boring. I ad to stop watching the movie and restart it on the next day. There's no flair, no substance to developing the good guys. I honestly didn't give a shit about any of the characters who were trying to fight to survive. There's a part in the film where a doctor [Woodard] outsmarts a vampire bite, treating it like an infection without any real chemical analysis. I'd say don't bother watching this film. It almost fell into my infamous "DOGSHIT" rating, but I'll leave that to local amateur indie films.

⭐️💫 [1.5 of 5 Stars]

APPLE TV HAS A DEFINITE HIT WITH "WOLFS"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - WOLFS [2024] - [R] - Apple+ - Directed & written by Jon Watts. Produced by Apple Studios, Plan B Entertainment, & Smokehouse Pictures. Stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, & Poorna Jagannathan. Budget $85 Million.

After a married woman [Ryan] witnesses her "side-lover" fall to his death crashing into a glass serving table in her luxurious hotel room, she calls a special cleaner [Clooney] to "clean up" the mess and get her out of the trouble she may be in. All is going according to plan until a second cleaner [Pitt] arrives, being hired by the hotel manager to observe the first cleaners job. During a time of cleaning, the duo share notes on how to clean a scene, when one of them finds a backpack full of unprocessed drugs.  They both summarize that the drugs belong to a local cartel who could start up lots of trouble, so they both use all of their known contacts to help them track down the possible real owners of the drugs. This is where a real adventure begins as the cleaners have to find the owners of the heroine and erase any existence of their work, and more especially, their identities.

THE GOOD - A large part of this film was filmed using the new Apple iPhone 18 Max; which was a good call with the slow motion and close up shots. Clooney and Pitt have outstanding chemistry, both developing parts of the same type of character; dressing the same, carrying the same weapons, being prepared for the same type of upcoming scenario, knowing the same contacts, etc. The visual effects are outstanding and the location spotting was perfect. Filmed entirely in New York, the director flawlessly showcased the underbelly of New York with some impressive cinematography. The editing was top notch, making the movie flow seamlessly from one scene to another, presenting a realistic feel of the consequences should the duo fail to complete their jobs.

THE BAD - Some of the bad guys in this film are never shown, only mentioned in passing or with mysterious phone calls; leaving all kinds of questions lingering. There is some dialog between the two main characters that seem to goo too long at times.

POST MORTEM - This is a great action/dark comedy, with some well thought-out twists and turns that tie the whole thing together with a surprise ending that had me as surprised as the main characters. This could be an interesting first part to a two-part film. Kudos to Apple+ for producing this little gem which is sure to beg for a follow up sequel!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [4.5 of 5 Stars]

HBO'S "CIVIL WAR" WILL LEAVE YOU ASKING TOO MANY QUESTIONS...

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - CIVIL WAR [2024] - R - HBOMAX - Directed and written by Alex Garland. Produced by Andrew MacDonald, Allon Reich, & Gregory Goodman. Starring Cailee Spaeny, Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson. Budget $50 Million.

During the latter half of a civil war between the United States and two states that have seceded from the rest of the union, four journalists [Dunst, Spaeset, Moura, Henderson] out to interview the President of the United States by taking a long route to stay clear from larger clusters of battles occurring outside of Delaware and Virginia. During their travels, they see the ugly, the peaceful, and the devastation caused by war. Each journalist begins to question the cost of their quest as the entire country begins to fall into complete chaos.

THE GOOD - Decent presentation of a war torn America and CGI effects with military battles.

THE BAD - Bad plot, bad story, cliche directing, the cinematography was nothing to brag about, and the dramatic acting was a bit too much at times. There's no character development and you are forced to accept certain main characters because they share memories of something that happened long ago.

POST MORTEM - After all the hype, and with today's political atmosphere, this film was boosted to the level of being a movie that could change a persons choice in November 2024's Presidential race. But in reality, this movie has nothing to offer. The story was too long and there were gaps of nothing but worthless imagery. Don't waste your time with this garbage.

⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars]

NETFLIX HAS A SOLID HOROR FILM WITH "THE DELIVERANCE"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - THE DELIVERANCE [2024] - R - NetFlix - Directed by Lee Daniels. Written by David Coggeshall & Ellijah Bynum. Edited by Stan Salfas. Stars Andra Day, Glenn Close, Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton, Omar Epps, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Mo'Nique.

Based on true events, an alcoholic mother [Day], whose husband has taken a job overseas, has just relocated her small family and her grouchy older [and passed abusive] mother [Close] to a new home. This place is in a busy neighborhood and her children are having a hard time trying to fit in with the local kids and the school. As time passes, things start to get really weird with a paranormal entity that is sucking the joy out of the entire family. Things get very intense after a "sooth-Sayer" and/or local Reverend [Ellis-Tayor] introduces herself and warns the alcoholic mother that strange things have occurred in the same house before. The mother learns that a dark, very abusive demon lives in the home and a previous family was slaughtered there. Now the mother has to try and save her family before the demon takes the lives of her children.

THE GOOD - Well developed story. There was a realistic feel to the entire production and things just didn't feel "over the top" in many of the actor performances. I was truly impressed with Andra Days performance and her ability to channel deep emotions when needed. Glenn Close also had a strong well and produced some deep emotions with her character. The cinematography was very pleasing and the pacing to the film was on-spot with most paranormal film genres of this kind. Unlike other paranormal-horror films, this feature was centered around a strong presentation of religion, and a certain strength that can be projected if one takes trust in the Lord; it was very pleasing to see this being openly entered into the film.

THE BAD - This is a female heavy film, making special note that director, Lee Daniels likes working with women actors. Making the movie female heavy, sets a strong distance with the strength of men and "what a man would do" in the situation presented. Leaving out the father through the entire film leaves the old message left on the table that "if something has to be done, a woman has to do it alone." There are two several overacted parts by Mo'Nique and she should have been directed to settle down in her performance.

POST MORTEM - This is honestly a great movie. It's not too scary and not too cerebral. Truly cinematic with the right special and visual effects presented to set the films plot to deliver the right effect. Unlike other paranormal films like THE CONJURING, this film plays a better part of drama to make the overall feel to the film seem believable and relatable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]

REVISITING BRANDON LEE IN 1994's "THE CROW"...

In 1993, the world was introduced to a dark comicbook character based on the writings of James O'Barr, a young artist who lost his beloved fiance to a drunk driver. He brought a lot of pain with him when he produced "The Crow" as a graphic novel and the book began to gain speed in distribution, being loved by fans and everyone accepting it's dark message of revenge from beyond the grave. 

During this time, O'Barr truly had no intentions of taking the graphic novel, selling the rights to a film studio and making a full feature movie. He use his book to heal all of the inner demons that he carried with him, trying to move on from the event that surely would have killed any chance of a real, happy life.

In 1994, things would quickly fall out of control for the emotional, recovering artist. He was able to work with two writers and create a screenplay for a film of his work. This was all by accident and a true testimonial to a good story that was developed well beyond it's time. There were only a few successful superhero films that sold out theaters in the 90s. Batman was one from 1989 and then Batman Returns from 1992 are the most memorable, but surely, O'Barr's Crow movie wouldn't be going up against them, would it?

During this time, Brandon Lee had only been in a small handful of action films. When the news broke that Lee would head the cast of the new CROW film, people thought that this production was just going to be another "chop-sockey" film and have Lee tossing around people using Kung-Fu. But to everyone's surprise, Lee backed out of using any Kung-Fu or karate in the production. He made fast friends with O'Barr and the production was gain top speed to produce something very dark, something paranormal with a touch of true grit.

But the production to the film would crash to a stop, when Lee was fatally injured on the set, being shot in a scene that demanded three re-shoots and close up. Lee too had a fiance at the time and she would witness his death, sharing something with O'Barr, and then the real catastrophe was ignited. After Lee's passing, the executives decided to go ahead and finish the film, since so much of the film had already been completed. "It's what Brandon would have wanted us to do," said so many people from the production.

Watching the film back then in the theater, seeing a man come back to life, literally, and then seeing him die again was a little disturbing. A fact that I carry with me is, that this was some of Lee's best work ever on film. He broke away from the Kung-Fu stereotype and did something totally original, something way ahead of it's time, brokering a production that would set a standard for all action films based on graphic comicbook characters.

I saw The CROW again recently and I was truly impressed by all of the performances by the A-list actors in the film. The action scenes were definitely well choreographed and there was a lot of heart that was put into this film. Could this film have changed the career path for Lee, I'm pretty sure. But it's a shame that The CROW was the highest part of Lee's career and was completely torn away by a simple "one set" production mistake. He is now a legend, who falls under the list of actors like James Dean, River Phoenix, and Heath Ledger, who all died shortly after their biggest performances on screen.

1994's The CROW holds up strongly against most actions being produced today. It's unfortunate that the first film spawned some sequels and even a short series on television, each of which sunk fast in ticket sales and most are all but forgotten. The original movie is a film I can watch over and over, feeling quite content with the storyline and the exceptional work that was done to complete the film with look-alikes and a few CGI tricks. And yeah, I think Brandon Lee would be very proud of the film if he was still alive today. The first film is a classic and there will never be another hit Crow film in today's Hollywood world of bad writing. Long live THE CROW with Lee as the lead actor!

"FLY ME TO THE MOON" DAZZLES WITH A ROBUST CAST!!!

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - FLY ME TO THE MOON [2024] - PG13 - Apple+ - Directed by Greg Berianti. Story by Bill Kirstein and Kennan Flynn. Screenplay by Rose Gilroy. Produced by Keenan Flynn, Sarah Schechter, Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Lia. Stars Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson, and Jim Rash. Budget $100 Million.

Not based on actual facts or historical events, this is a story about Kelly Jones [Johansson] who has worked most of her life as an advertising manager [of sorts], who has scammed her way through some high profile companies and made a name for herself. She is approached by a high Government official named "Moe" [Harrelson], who enlists her services to help save the American space program [NASA] by building enthusiasm in the America through some unique advertising ploys. Jones becomes smidgen with NASA Launch Director, Cole Davis [Tatum], and together they not only fall in love, but they work together to save the NASA space program from the clutches of Moe who plans to fake the entire landing on the moon.

THE GOOD - Fantastic location spotting. Transforming area scenes to the 1960's with some awesome classic cars. Some brilliant performances between Johansson and Tatum. Ray Romano plays a strong part in the film, doing very little, but some of his most impressive, dramatic works that I've ever seen from him. Harrelson brings a quirky, dark character to life and it's good to see him doing dark comedy again. Some very well produced CGI and practical effects which would help explain how a moon landing was faked and better yet, why. The story is perfect with the time and I liked how the "theory" behind needing to fake a moon landing was explained.

THE BAD - Even though there were some good selections in the sound track for this film, none of the tracks used in this film were memorable after watching the film. A time piece like this film should have a memorable sound track.

POST MORTEM - This was a pleasing film and had all of the elements that a good film should have. IMO the advertising for this film was poorly produced and damaged any chance of this film gaining strength in the box office. This film won't win any nominations as there were no sex scenes, no lesbians kissing or gays working together, no violence, no explosions or super heroes to save the day. Writing films like this has unfortunately gone the way of the Dodo bird. A film to watch when there's nothing else to watch on TV.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [4 of 5 Stars]

TEXAS INDIE FILM, "COYOTE WOMAN" [2024] SINKS BEFORE THE MOVIE STARTS...

🎥🎞️Indie Movie Review🎞️🎥 - COYOTE WOMAN [2024] - [R] - Kinnescape/Raw Cinema. Directed by Stefan Ruf. Written by John Herndon & Stefan Ruf. Produced by John H. Davis and Lissa Rabon. Starring Nik L. Guerra, Heath Allyn, Les Best, Tom Byrne, Larissa Dali, Don Barro, and Michael L Garcia Jr. Filmed entirely in Blanco, TX.

This indie feature is a silly, but bloody Western filled with gores galore and tons of one liners. Wild Comanche's attack a family, wiping out the parents and capturing two girl, who are tormented and eventually absorbed into the Comanche tribe over the course of ten years. A wild bunch of "Indian scalp hunters" track down the local Indians and mercilessly take scalps from men, women and children. One of the children, who grew up to be a smart and witty "Indian Princess," [Dali] is able to find help to hunt down the scalpers and extract revenge on all that destroyed both of her families.

THE GOOD - The movie poster is artistically impressive and very creative. The opening and closing credits were very artistic and reminded me of the early spaghetti western films opening and closings. The location spotting for this feature was pleasant. Some of the gore was well planned and prepared.

THE BAD - As a dark comedy, this featured suffered from bad writing, bad editing and directing. Many of the scenes were too long and could have been edited for a shorter intro, which would have resulted in a shorter running time. There were constant close ups which were useless and obviously added to the film to hide the large amount of ADR that was used throughout the entire film. There was a ton of scenes shot out of focus, where the camera operator had to adjust while filming the scene. And as much as this was a dark/sassy comedy, the was no historical basis for any of the Native American culture used in this film; nothing remotely plausible.

PRODUCTION BREAKDOWN

↓  Lighting

↓  Camera Work

↓  Screenplay

↓  Sound/ADR

↓  Wardrobe

↓  Use of Visuals

↓  Time Lapse

← Editing

↓  Rule of Thirds
← Locations

↓  Music
↓  Ending/Follow through

↓  Makeup/Effects

↑  Gore

POST MORTEM - The marketing and promotional push for this film was deeply deplorable. I only found out about this film because Larissa Dali made a post on Instagram about it. Production teams who choose to use TUBI as a streaming showcase for their film, should consider other alternatives before just jumping into an unproven platform that does absolutely nothing to promote a new indie film.

 

⭐️⭐️💫[2.5 of 5 Stars]

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE - NO DOUBT FOX IS REGRETTING THE PLETHORA OF POSSIBILITIES OF "WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE [2024] - [R] - Directed by Shawn Levy. Screenplay by Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, & Zeb Wells. Produced by Kevin Feige, Lauren Shuler, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Macfadyen, Marvel Studios, Maximum Effort, & 21 Laps Entertainment. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew MacFadyen, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Chris Evans, Henry Cavill, & Dafne Keen. Budget $200 Million.

*No Spoiler Review* - Basically, Wade Wilson (Deadpool) [Reynolds] is a retired superhero trying to live a normal life with his friends, but a second chance at redemption steps in when an administer of quantum realities [Macfadyen] steps in to change a timeline that revolves around the X-Men's Wolverine [Jackman], who is lost and wandering through life as a bonafide alcoholic. Deadpool enlists the help of Wolverine to find a way to chance their respective histories and restore order their universe, bringing back old friends from the dead and saving humanity. The big problem is, the duo must use the help of superheros that have lost their potential on the big screen - breaking the fourth barrier of comic book lore - and breathing new life into their new retconned existence; literally poking Fox Entertainment in the eye for giving up on some old movie ideas that could have been spectacular.

THE GOOD - Fantastic story arc. The visual effects are breathtaking and there is a ton of action in this film. Lots of blood, body parts, and an extended use of CGI to fill in the blanks for people who need to see more. There was an astonishing dramatic part in the film where Wolverine [Jackman] spills his heart about being a superhero and losing all that he loves. Lots of humor and inside jokes pertaining to comic book universal canon.

THE BAD - There's too much humor and inside jokes pertaining to comic book universal canon. Reynold's gabs a lot - and even though I know it's a comic book thing - it gets a little annoying over an extended period of time. The CGI is a little too much at times, taking away the practical effects and realism of how things happen in real life.

POST MORTEM - In my opinion, Reynold's truly loves the sound of his own voice and I am sure that muting his voice, this film wouldn't have been as good. Out of all the super hero films released, I feel this is the best film I've seen in a long time! I think that the hype was just perfect and the excitement was just as important during the early promotional effort to the film. This film has everything that a comic book enthusiast would love to see in just one film. As Stan Lee would say, "EXCELSIOR!"

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [4 of 5 Stars]

EVEN EDDIE MURPHY COULDN'T SAVE “BHC: AXEL F”

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F [2024] - (R) - Netflix -  Directed by Mark Molloy. Written by Will Beall, Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten. Produced by Don Simpson, Jerry Buckheimer, and Eddie Murphy. Starring Eddie Murphy, Judge Rienhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, and Bronson Pinchot. Budget $150 Million.

This is the fourth installment to the Beverly Hills Cop [BHC] franchise. A private investigator, once a Beverly Hills Police Detective, Billy Rosewood [Reinhold] has stumbled on a conspiracy that potentially involves dirty cops, add to that a threat to Axel Foley's daughter [Taylour], and when the dubious pressure builds out of control, Rosewood suddenly disappears. An older and still troublesome police detective, Axel Foley [Murphy], makes his way back to Beverly Hills where he tries to infiltrate the city with his old, impulsive and impromptu ideas to solve this new conspiracy that involves dirty cop, Captain Grant [Bacon]. To solve this new caper, it will take the involvement of many old faces from BHC one and two to help solve this case.

THE GOOD - Some of the old faces from the original film came back for this film. The production was able to use some old scene locations from the first film and incorporate them to this film.

THE BAD - Bad story, bad directing, bad screenplay, bad cinematographer, overacting, dismal character development, cliche 80's chatter, low budget film production, dealing with a new generation of over privileged local citizens with new cellphone technologies and some romantic multi-racial bullshit.

POST MORTEM - I struggled during the first twenty minutes of this movie just trying to settle in and get to liking what I was being exposed to. There's a lot of nostalgia in the story, plots, some old 80's gimmicks and plotlines, all wrapped up in one crappy movie to help you waste your time watching this train wreck. There was nothing new to see, nothing clever, nothing actually funny. Watch this crappy film at your own risk.

⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars]

"HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA" BRINGS THE WILD WEST BACK TO LIFE!...

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA [2024] - R - Written and Directed by Kevin Costner. Co-Writer Jon Baird and Mark Kasdan. Starring Kevin Costner, Abbey Lee, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Wase Chief, Tatanka Means, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Georgia MacPhail, and Michael Rooker. Budget $100 Million.

This is an epic tale covering plots of several families who were involved in America's early expansion to the West, just prior to the start of the Civil War. 

In one plot, a flier is passed around to people wanting to start a new life in the west. This flier promises good land and water for farming in an area of Wyoming called "Horizon." As the small town begins to grow, a tribe of warring Apache Indians instigate an attack on the small town, wiping out a large portion of the population. 

The second plot concerns a woman who tries to kill a man; whose having an affair or being the mans second wife, and she escapes with their child into the wild. His two sons are sent out by the wounded man's wife to find the mistress and retrieve the baby. A third plots involves a wagon train that's headed west, the leader of the wagon train finds that some of the members of the caravan are up to no good an may cause harm to other innocent travelers. For all, the trip to Horizon is a long one; filled with deserts, wild indian's, and inner mischief.

THE GOOD - This movie is a cinematographers dream, the epic view of the Utah backdrop was breathtaking and well captured. This dark drama has it's moments, building up the negative energy and delivering explosive turn of events when the pressure can't take more building. The editing and sound is pristine, keeping the flow of the film moving in the right direction, keeping the three hour film viewable without any slow parts.

THE BAD - There are no memorable moments in this film, save the one shoot out that seemed real and delivered with gritty appeal. Expect to see some over-acting by a few actors who obviously have small parts in the film. There are points in the feature where the dialog goes on and on and on; probably needed to explain later parts to the two sequels that will be released later this year.

POST MORTEM - This is a gritty, dusty Western with dark drama that brings a different view of what people might have experienced or had to deal with in the real western era. Costner's performance is dry, but he delivers his part when the time arises. There's some romance, some honesty, but a lot of double-dealing and dark figures to fill this first part of the saga to keep you around for all three films. This was a tightly detailed first part. Kudos to Costner for putting this film together!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [4 of 5 Stars]

“THE BIKERIDERS” FAILS TO DELIVER AN EPIC FEEL…

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - THE BIKERIDERS [2024] - PG13 - Directed & Written by Jeff Nichols. Stars Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, and Norman Reedus.

Essentially, this is a movie about a photographer and writer who interviews Kathy Bauer [Comer] long time girlfriend on a biker [Butler] who opens the world up to the beginnings of biker clubs that eventually turn into biker gangs. The setting is the late 1960s on through the 1970s and there’s a lot that Bauer recalls about the first formation of the local biker club called “The Vandals.” Initially, the club was created for dudes who looked cool on bikes and had a place to shoot pool, smoke, drink beer, pick up hot women, and ride. As the Vietnam War came to a close, new bike clubs start to form and things start getting a little more serious as bike clubs start turning into bike gangs. From there, a loss of morality and fun ruins good things as biker punks begin to take over, ending the era of just good old guys riding around and enjoying a simple hobby with good friends.

THE GOOD - There are lots of classic cars and motorcycles that will make any person drool over what is shown in this film. Mostly shot in small towns in Ohio, the transformation of the set locations were pretty impressive. There are a lot of cameos from various actors who seem to be working together from one film to another.

THE BAD - There’s very little dialog that happens throughout the film as Bauer [Comer] is narrating throughout most of the feature. Tom Hardy seems dry in his performance as he tries to stay dramatic and perform somewhere in the realm of a young Marlon Brando. I’m not completely sure that Austin Butler had more than 15 lines in this film, outside of being beat up and maimed throughout most of the film.

POST MORTEM - For being a “biker film” with a PG13 rating, this film failed to show any real biking or any real danger, except a few scenes were the cast was seen driving in a rag tag group on the same patch of road. There’s no romance, no action, NOTHING! The pacing is slow and there’s really no real action in this film to speak of, except a few fights that were too short with nothing really to make note of. The film was presented in a documentary-type format that actually made me nod off from time to time. If it wasn’t for this classic bikes and cars in this film, there wouldn’t be much more to look at or admire. I was somewhat disappointed.

⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars]

“POOR THINGS [2023]” SHOWS SIGNS OF IMPERFECT FILM NOIR

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - POOR THINGS [2023] - R - HULU - Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Written by Tony McNamara. Based on a 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray. Stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael.

A pregnant woman (Stone) commits suicide and her body is sold to a mad scientist (Dafoe) who is able to save the body of the woman and the brain of the unborn child. He plants the child’s brain into the woman and reanimates her to life. The new woman matures quickly, learning about impulsive sexuality and losing her direction in life. She seeks adventure with a new lover (Ruffalo) through a myriad escapade of sex and has to join a French bordello, where she sleeps with all kinds of creeps and even a father in front if his children; while two little boys take notes. She did all this not only to survive, but to find a way to get her home, where when shes successful she discovers a dark secret about about her real life and the events that led to her mother committing suicide while she was pregnant.

THE GOOD - This is a quasi-fantasy built around a fictional steam punk era, so the costumes are pretty impressive. There is a dazzling performance by William Dafoe that completely wasn’t expected.

THE BAD - The camera work, cinematography and use of lenses were atrocious. Where the director was obviously trying to bring a mind altering epic film; in the genre of “Edward Scissorhands” quality, this film failed to deliver a solid storyline and keep the pacing in line with the film’s message. Filled with dark humor, color variances from black and white, to sepia to pastels, there was nothing in this film that seemed real or gave the clarification of ingenuity for what the plots story had to share.

POAT MORTEM - This movie is a pedophile/groomers dream. As poorly as the movie poster was designed, this was a horrible film. I’m surprised this film won an Oscar or two over an obvious plotline concerning pedophilia through the altering "what if" scenario that asks, "What if Emma Stone had the mind of child, would you still do her?" There was clear indication for the justification of pedophilia within the film’s storyline. Emma Stone is fully naked throughout this film, which completely eradicates any chance of her being remembered as a classy sex symbol. You should watch this when there’s nothing else to see on a hot Sunday afternoon. 

⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars]