Tag: 2021 movies

A Quiet Place Part II: A Detailed Review

Posted on by luigonword in Reviews

A Quiet Place Part II: A Sequel As Good As the First?

When success comes to a movie there’s always the question of whether or not a sequel will be made, and if there is one would it ever compare or surpass the first? Few films come to mind where sequels are better than the first, John Wick 2, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Transformers 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Dark Knight, etc.

A Quiet Place Part II definitely is one of those films that surpasses the first, of course it is in my honest opinion accompanied by others. With the first being a massive audience success and the ending leaving for a potential sequel, I was really happy to see the trailer come out in 2020. Still having John Krasinski as the director, we can see his skills improving to tell a story. Now the original family cast returns to play the part Emily Blunt playing Evelyn Bennett, Millicent Simmonds playing Regan Bennett, Noah Jupe playing Marcus Bennett. Adding to the amazing cast as a major character is Cillian Murphy playing Emmett a friend before the chaos now turned stranger.

Overview

A Quiet Place Part II brings out more than just horror elements, it brings out the intensity of action thrillers, and also includes elements of drama as Millicent’s character goes through a lot of self reflection, as she is the main protagonist for the film. Not to worry, there is still the intensity and horror elements that the first movie brought, and I’d even say it brought more having shown the first encounter these creatures had with humans and noise. It goes without saying but having great actors and actresses really brings the best not to mention John’s work as a director and his improvement shows throughout the film, you can even see the rundown for the first chase of the film on YouTube with Vanity Fair. All in all, this film was a great watch and I highly recommend people go check it if you haven’t already, and if you haven’t heard of the second one already out check out the trailer below!

Review

Now the first film left off with Millicent and Emily’s character figuring out a way to kill the creatures, after a mass of them came into their home leaving it burnt to the grown, not to mention the newborn baby walking in a world where noise gets you killed. Nonetheless everything is in a way figured out for the group, but having no home they must venture off into the world ultimately running into their old family friend, Emmett played by Cillian.

Here is where this film partly takes place, although we also get a glimpse of how the family lived before everything changed. Living in a small town and having a weekend baseball game with the little leagues sounds like a peaceful life, until it all comes crashing down and as we can see meteors flying through the sky, in which we figured are the creatures of today’s time.

Seeing this we can stop trying to imagine the chaos, in addition to me going through the incredible sequence I’ll let the director talk about it as he has done a breakdown with Vanity Fair on YouTube over this specific scene.

I also have to mention, he actively states that Millicent is the lead actress in this which is an incredible choice as it brings out a much more detailed story, and we can clearly see she is the protagonist as it’s her journey we begin to follow after the first few minutes, of course having Emily’s character deal with a B-story. Like the first she really wants to prove everyone wrong and help them even risking her own life to go to a possible island of safety, which had a broadcasting station in which turn could be used to broadcast her way to fighting the creatures.

She goes on on her own almost ending up killed as she still can’t actively hear, but gets saved by Emmett who was sent by Emily’s character in order to bring her back. The two fight each other as she wants to continue on and he just wants to bring her back so he can go “home”, reaching a point of agreement to go see her mission through.

The two character’s chemistry create an incredible dynamic duo, and Cillian being a great actor brings all the ropes to the film. His character development is clear and bright as day even reaching a point to put his life on the line for Millicent’s character and other people they end up meeting. Hiss choice of performance is great and I have to mention when first seeing the film I couldn’t recognize the talent with such a beard and wardrobe until my sister asked if it was Scarecrow from Batman Begins or Fischer from Inception.

Having him in the film was a great add on, and I honestly couldn’t see anyone else play the character. Not to mention, like before the chemistry of Millicent and him gave off the same dynamic as the two characters from the famous video game The Last of Us. For those that don’t know it follows the story of Joel and Ellie, two people who found each other in an apocalyptic world and now go on together surviving day by day, which I need to add aren’t related or are in a romantic view they’re just basically really good friends, just like how we see Cillian and Millicent’s characters turn by the end of the movie.

Overall A Quiet Place Part II does an amazing job at continuing the first film without losing any of the qualities. John Krasinski is doing a great job in his directorial work and if you’ve seen the Vanity Fair Breakdown video you can clearly see he is passionate about his work, even stating he was unsure whether he wanted to do a second film until he realizes he really does. It brings out the instinct to root for the little person and this case being Millicent, as she continues to show her acting chops, and as I stated before, hope to see her prove herself more in the industry obtaining more roles and hopefully gaining more major and lead character roles.

If you haven’t already seen this film I highly recommend the two films to anyone looking for a good double feature to watch. It brings out horror aspects, thriller and action sequences and just all around a good time. But as always don’t take it from me, go check out both films and let me know what you think, till next time, peace.

‘Annette’: It Sings Itself Into an Abyss

Posted on by Raúl Alejandro Mendoza in Reviews

The English language debut film of French director Leos Carax is ambitious but it just does too much to work that falls unbelievably flat.

CREDIT: UGC Distribution

It’s finally here after premiering at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where it received a standing ovation (even though that seems to be tradition at this point for most movies at Cannes). French director Leos Carax creates his first English language film with the help of Sparks duo Ron and Russel Mael. The film is shot by Caroline Champetier along with music created by Sparks themselves. The film received raving reviews at Cannes especially many praising the performances by our leads. One can definitely agree that there was some anticipation for this film especially for fans of Carax and his last film Holy Motors.

Annette stars Adam Driver as, Henry McHenry, a comedian on a steady downfall in his career and life and Marion Cotillard as Catherine Defrasnoux a successful and beautiful opera singer who fall in love, get married, and have their first child. It is after they have their child that they face a slew of problems ranging from bad communication to jealousy. The film also stars Simon Helberg and Devyn McDowell who show off an incredible range of performances in the film. The film is definitely heightened by the performances included along with their singing abilities.

Now, let’s get one thing covered before we get into what this movie is doing. Annette is bizarre, ambitious and at times both of these characteristics are what helps the film stand out, but it is also what makes the film stay convoluted. The film succeeds in getting its message across about power hungry jealous men who are not content with their life and career, so they must manipulate those around them to help keep their career alive. It is exactly who Henry is and who he realizes he became by the end of the film. The film also has some stunning cinematography that is elevated by some genius production design. Everything from the lighting setups to the set pieces really help create the atmosphere of the film.

After all that well you are probably asking, “well what did not work for you then?” Everything else basically from story to music to pacing just did not work. I am a firm believer that a musical should at least be good in the music department, and even though I am sure that the Sparks have made some good music the music in Annette was just uninteresting. It helped create its atmosphere but at times it felt very out of place within its story where it should be helping service the story. As mentioned before, Driver and Cotillard are magnificent performers but the music just does not work for the film to execute itself.

The story of Annette is interesting but because of its off pacing it just does not seem to ever capture more than it is grasping. The themes are far more interesting to digest than this convoluted story that just does not find its footing. A lot of that is to blame for a very dragged out second and third act that just keep going and going. If the film could have been shaved down 30 minutes I think it could have worked better but who knows when the pacing is only one part of multiple problems this film finds itself in. Now, you’re probably thinking that I just did not like this film at all? Well, I found it to be just fine because its ambition even though it is what limited it at times is what I think pushes it to be a good film. There is a lot of love and care within the film that just helps create this bizarre flick and because of that it is worthy of that praise. Even though there is a lot ground that can be improved Leos Carax does a good job of creating a very stylized film that only he can make.

Annette is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

‘The Green Knight’: David Lowery’s Arthurian Masterpiece

Posted on by Raúl Alejandro Mendoza in Reviews

The Green Knight is exemplary in every way possible under the incredible direction of David Lowery as he creates one of if not the best film of this year.

CREDIT: A24

It is safe to say that 2020 provided us some of our worst moments. It was a time that was met with a lot of sorrow, grief, and uncertainty about our lives. In the movie space, we saw many delays while some of our most anticipated films were moved to streaming services while theaters remained shut down. There was something else that we got in 2020 that really made us realize that 2021 was going to be worth the wait. I remember seeing that first trailer for David Lowery’s The Green Knight and I was amazed at what was shown. Immediately I was beyond excited to watch Dev Patel play Gawain and the visuals of the trailer propelled my excitement to the moon, but the summer came along and no news about the film came forward so we had to imagine that it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later on before the year ended, we received news that the film would release in July 2021. My anticipation for this film kept building and building for what I imagined would be a good Arthurian motion picture. Fast forward to the present, I went to my local movie theater (following COVID guidelines) to finally watch this movie and I was giddy with excitement to finally sit down and set my eyes on the film.

The film stars Dev Patel as Gawain the nephew of King Arthur as he sets on a quest to find and face The Green Knight that tests his courage to become a noble knight of the roundtable. The film is written, produced, edited, and directed by David Lowery (A Ghost Story, Pete’s Dragon, The Old Man & The Gun) based on the anonymous poem Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. The film also stars Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, and Ralph Ineson.

David Lowery’s The Green Knight meets all expectations and blows them out of the water. A concise and reflective film about the struggle between expectations and our quest to be who we want to be. David Lowery’s love and patience for the source material shows throughout the movie paired alongside its exquisite cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo. Along with its beautiful and moving cinematography, it is Daniel Hart’s groundbreaking score that helps create the atmosphere of our very contemplative and somber film. Dev Patel works wonders as Sir Gawain and truly captures every scene he is in. Him along with the supporting cast like Alicia Vikander’s two characters excel in the acting department.

The Green Knight is special and so far the best film to be released this year. The film takes its epic story to create a very patient film that speaks beyond its structure. Whether it is its daunting scenes of doubt in Gawain or its various moments that challenges the nobility of what it means to be someone as important as a Knight. We constantly are looking at the film hoping to see what Gawain will do to redeem himself and become the man he is set to be. The Arthurian world of David Lowery’s film is magical and never disappoints you throughout this quest of Gawain as we patiently watch a masterclass in filmmaking and storytelling.

Watch The Green Knight in theaters right now.