Tag Archives: #100wordreview

Las Elegidas ‘The Chosen Ones’ (2015) #NetflixReview #100wordreview

May 15, 2022100 word review, 3/5, film review#100wordreview, #MovieReviewsBlog, #NetflixReviews, 100 word review, @MovieReviewsBlo, David Pablos, drama, film, film blog, film review, film reviews, film student, films, Leidi Gutiérrez, movie, movie blog, movie review, movie reviews, movies, Nancy Talamantes, Netflix, netflix film, Netflix review, Oscar Torres, people smugglers, prostitution, sex, sex slavery, sex trade, sex traffic, traffickbryanajparry

disturbing

Las Elegidas (‘The Chosen Ones’) follows a fourteen year old who gets kidnapped into sexual slavery by her boyfriend who is himself under the duress of his people-trafficking older brother and father. The boyfriend begs his father but is presented with a stark choice: his girlfriend will be released if he finds another girl to fill her space. So we spend half the film with him seducing another girl, ultimately successfully. His girlfriend is changed forever, however, and is “released” but only to live with the family and under their supervision at all times.

The film was moving. The sex scenes were disturbingly shot, but featured no actual sex. But this made it all the more disturbing as the sex is in our minds.

However, the film ends rather abruptly. Just as a plotline develops about one of the patrons of the brothel being an undercover would-be liberator of the girls, credits roll.

3/5

featured image from http://pics.filmaffinity.com/las_elegidas-843242959-large.jpg

Film Review “Below Zero” a.k.a. “Bajocero” (2021) #NetflixReview #100WordReview

February 5, 2022100 word review, 4/5, film review#100wordreview, #MovieReviewsBlog, #NetflixReviews, 100 word review, @MovieReviewsBlo, Bajo Cero, Bajo Cero 2021, Bajo Cero PELICULA, Below Zero, Below Zero MOVIE, film, film blog, film review, film reviews, film student, films, Isak Ferriz, Javier Gutierrez, Karra Elejalde, movie, movie blog, movie review, movie reviews, movies, Netflix, netflix film, Netflix review, police, prison officer, shoot-out, Spanish, Spanish language, Spanish language cinema, thrillerbryanajparry

[we’re] parts of an essentially uncaring machine.

Prison Officer Martin (Javier Gutierrez) is driving across country to deliver a batch of prisoners to another facility when, suddenly, him and his partner Montesinos (Isak Ferriz) find themselves under attack by an unknown assailant (Karra Elejalde). Face almost certain death by leaving their armoured vehicle, or remain locked inside as the inmates threaten to riot?

Below Zero is an action-packed crime story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The ending, particularly the last moment where we see Martin look at his locker, brings home how everyone involved — officers and prisoners — are just parts of an essentially uncaring machine.

4/5

featured image from https://e00-marca.uecdn.es/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2021/02/03/16123551782700.jpg

Film Review “Anna” (2019) #100WordReview #NetflixReview

September 19, 2021100 word review, 3/5, film review#100wordreview, #MovieReviewsBlog, #NetflixReviews, 100 word review, @MovieReviewsBlo, action, Anna 2019, Anna Movie, drama, espionage, film, film blog, film review, film reviews, films, Helen Mirren, Luc Besson, Luke Evans, movie, movie blog, movie review, movie reviews, movies, Netflix, netflix film, Netflix review, Sasha Luss, spybryanajparry

Despite the unbelievability of the premise… entertaining

An action-espionage-drama following Anna, a poor woman from Russia with a heavy burden of suffering who is ready to give up on life. At her nadir, a man swoops in with an unlikely offer — become a spy, in exchange for a decent life.

Despite the unbelievability of the premise, the film is otherwise quite believable. The movie’s made up of several segments which end in a twist, the scenes then rewinding to show us what really happened. Entertaining and shocking, but this shtick begins to wear thin by the end.

An entertaining and exciting flick with good acting all round.

3/5

featured image from https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/484641/movieposter/anna-5e0022441661a.jpg

Netflix Review: “Fractured” (2019) #100WordReview @netflix @thefilmreview @kermodemovie @fracturedfilmUK @_SamWorthington @lilrabe

February 20, 2021100 word review, 3/5, film review#100wordreview, 100 word review, @KERMODEMOVIE, film, film blog, film review, film reviews, films, Fractured 2019, Fractured Film, horror, horror film, horror movie, horror-mystery, movie, movie blog, movie review, movie reviews, movies, mystery, mystery-horror-thriller, Sam Worthington, thrillerbryanajparry

A kind of horror Flightplan

A troubled couple, Ray and Joanne (Sam Worthington, Lily Rabe), stop at a petrol station where their daughter’s arm gets Fractured in a fall. They rush to the nearest hospital, but something is terribly amiss. Pushy staff keep mentioning organ donation. And when daughter Peri (Lucy Capri) and Joanne disappear during an MRI, the hospital deny they checked in — or even exist at all. Ray must fight to save his family and prove his sanity.

A kind of horror Flightplan, we are kept guessing until the end: abducted family, or imagined family?

Unsettling, thrilling, but slightly shlocky. A good romp.

3/5

featured image from https://rue-morgue.com/framework/uploads/2019/09/Fractured_1x1-1024×1024.jpg

Netflix Film Review: Unforgettable (2017) #100WordReview @netflix @thefilmreview @kermodemovie @theisabellakai @rosariodawson @KatieHeigl @geoffstults

February 10, 2021100 word review, film review#100wordreview, 100 word review, @geoffstults, @KatieHeigl, @KERMODEMOVIE, @rosariodawson, @THEFILMREVIEW, @theisabellakai, Christina Hodson, Denise Di Novi, film, film blog, film review, film reviews, films, Geoff Stults, http://www.unforgettablemovie.com/, Isabella Kai Rice, Katherine Heigl, movie, movie blog, movie review, movie reviews, movies, Netflix, Rosario Dawson, Total Film, Unforgettable (2017)bryanajparry

With a title like Unforgettable, this film is almost asking to fall on its face.

Julia (Rosario Dawson) has just clawed herself out of a violently abusive relationship. Her reward: super job and wonder-man David (Geoff Stults). But her new life is shattered by David’s “tightly wound” ex-wife Tessa (Katherine Heigl) who cannot, and will not, accept that she has been replaced. Julia battles the demons of her past to overcome everyone’s doubt and her new foe.

With a title like Unforgettable, this film is almost asking to fall on its face. The truly compelling central performances by Dawson and Heigl stopped this being a waste of time, but a classic it is not. Trite, boring.

2/5

featured image from https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/8kOFx8MjZZzBYcf85qfsf9UBsJD.jpg

Netflix Film Review “Mirage” a.k.a. “Durante La Tormenta” (2018) #100WordReview #NetflixReview

August 15, 2020100 word review, 5/5, film review#100wordreview, 100 word review, @THEFILMREVIEW, Durante La Tormenta, film, film blog, film review, film reviews, Mirage, Mirage 2018, movie, movie blog, movie review, movie reviews, movies, Netflix, netflix film, Netflix reviewbryanajparry

check out the full-length review here

mind-bending … Beautiful

A foreboding storm is the backdrop to the sad tale of a boy who witnesses a murder and who in fleeing the scene is run over and killed. Twenty-five years later, an eerily similar storm forms which seems to create a link to the past. Can Vera save the boy? And what consequences will follow from this?

Mirage is a mind-bending mystery crime time-travel film. Beautiful in every way. The ending is shocking and totally satisfying; it doesn’t wipe out our journey as time travel films often do.

5/5

featured image from https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/asnozZh17f4Rv9Ro1rETAEEAFOt.jpg

Netflix Film Review: The Hole In The Ground (2019) #100WordReview @SeanaKerslake @Netflix #HorrorMovie

March 1, 2020100 word review, 4/5, film review#100wordreview, 100 word review, @SeanaKerslake, @THEFILMREVIEW, cinematography, film, film blog, film review, film reviews, fims, forest horror, horror, horror film, horror movie, horror-thriller, James Quin Markey, Lee Cronin, movie, movie review, movie reviews, movies, Netflix, Seána Kerslake, slowburn, The Babadook, The Hole In The Ground, The Hole In The Ground (2019), The Honeymoon, The Honeymoon (2014), Total Filmbryanajparry

A gut-churning slowburn … has her son really been replaced, or is it all in her own mind?

The Hole In The Ground is the remarkably well-accomplished debut feature from Irish writer-director Lee Cronin. Single mother Sarah (Seána Kerslake) has upped sticks to the countryside with her eight year old son Chris (James Quin Markey). After Chris goes for a mysterious midnight stroll in the nearby forest, Sarah begins to notice disturbing changes in his character. Is this even her son at all?

A gut-churning slowburn, this horror-thriller recalls 2014’s equally nerve-shredding The Honeymoon and shares DNA with The Babadook. Convincing central performances and potent sound design and cinematography.

We are kept guessing until the very end: has her son really been replaced, or is it all in her own mind? A true delight.

4/5

featured image from https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w1280/wTnFy6B5QCeRgjgCGBGlZaDESJ1.jpg

100 Word Film Review: The Blind Side (2009)

June 7, 2017100 word review, 4/5, film review#100wordreview, 100 word review, @THEFILMREVIEW, Academy Award, American Football, Empire Magazine, film, film review, film reviews, Football, Gridiron, Jae Head, John Lee Hancock, Kathy Bates, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Lily Collins, Mark Kermode, Michael Jerome Oher, Michael Lewis, Michael Oher, movie, Oscar, Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side, Tim McGraw, Total Film, WASP, wrong side of the tracksbryanajparry

altruism at its best — or is there an ulterior motive?

The Blind Side is the true story of a wealthy WASP family, headed by Mater Familias Sandra Bullock, who take in a seventeen year old homeless black kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Battling social prejudice, lavishing him with clothes and an education, this is altruism at its best — or is there an ulterior motive? A prestigious football scholarship is at stake.

This fish-out-of-water tale has plenty of heart. Success is never a foregone conclusion. Tight scripting earnt this flick an Oscar nom for best screenplay, Bullock herself won Best Actress for her subtle, humane, and convincing portrayal.

4/5

featured image http://truesportsmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/the_blind_side1.jpg

Film Review: Arrival #100WordReview @ArrivalMovie @TheFilmReview @KermodeMovie #AmyAdams #ericheisserer #DenisVilleneuve

April 3, 2017100 word review, 4/5#100wordreview, #100WordStory, #whyaretheyhere, 100 word review, 100 word story, 2001, 2001: A Space Odyssey, @ArrivalMovie, @THEFILMREVIEW, Amy Adams, Arrival, Arrival Review, Arthur C. Clarke, Contact, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Heisserer, film, film review, Forest Whitaker, Heptapod, imdb, imdb.com, Independence Day, Jeremy Renner, Jodie Foster, Mark Kermode, monolith, movie, movie review, Nebula Award, sci-fi, Science fiction, scifi, Story of Your Life, syfy, Ted Chiang, Total Filmbryanajparry

Stars4

this generation’s Contact or 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Arrival sees a linguist tasked with making first contact with extraterrestrials. Based on an award-winning short story, the film can only be described as this generation’s Contact or 2001: A Space Odyssey. Same epic feel, familiar dark featureless monoliths (spacecraft). Yet it’s no rip-off.

Truly alien aliens, a tension and uneasy terror that surely would accompany first contact, a disturbing sense of realism. All achieved without wobbly camcorder shtick.

Just like its illustrious spiritual forebears, Arrival is beautifully understated, deceptively straightforward plot-wise, and handles deep themes without pretension or pomp.

The anti-Independence Day. Found Contact snooze-inducing? Miss it. I say: instant classic.

4/5

(see the full-length review here)

featured image from http://www.space.com/34783-stephen-wolfram-arrival-interview.html

Bryan's Magic Lantern Filmhouse

Mostly pithy film/series reviews of Netflix and Amazon Prime