Hands of Stone Movie Review

Hands of Stone (2016)

Hands of Stone - Formulaic to a fault.

Buy Hands of Stone
Written by: Jonathan Jakubowicz
Directed by: Jonathan Jakubowicz
Starring:  Edgar Ramírez, Usher Raymond, Robert De Niro, John Turturro, Ellen Barkin, Jurnee Smollett-Bell
Rated: R

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
Boxer Roberto Durán and his legendary trainer Ray Arcel make it to the world title fight against Sugar Ray Leonard.

Verdict
This is 'just' a boxing movie. This follows the tried and true pattern of boxing movies, and because of that, it's boring and predictable. It's all formula with no heart. We don't even get to root for the underdog because Durán is so dominant. The movie tries to make you root against him, but it's disappointing that this character and story is squandered.  Of course this has a final fight, but it lacks any kind of impact or emotion.
Skip it.

Review
Roberto Durán is considered to be one of the best boxers of all time and held world titles in four weight classes, including lightweight (1972–1979), welterweight (1980), light middleweight (1983–1984) and middleweight (1989).

Hands of Stone focuses primarily on Durán's (Edgar Ramirez) 1980 fight and rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond). As I watched this, I could imagine someone checking boxes as they created the outline.
Legendary trainer Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro) who comes out of retirement to Durán after seeing his immense talent.
It adds a layer of Panama's political scene and Durán's background, though it doesn't provide enough context to make it meaningful.
Of course there is a love interest that doesn't like Roberto at first and later serves to add drama later.
There's a training montage, because this is a boxing movie after all.

This follows such a basic pattern, and any plot points that could set this apart are mostly ignored. We never get a feel for who Durán really is. His transformation is from hard working boxer to a champ that parties hard and sleeps around. He's not exactly a hero the caliber of Rocky.

The best character arc, though underdeveloped, might be Sugar Ray Leonard. He loses a fight and makes the necessary adjustments to prevail in a rematch. Leonard realizes that Durán got into his head before the first match by insulting his family and wife.
I had doubts about performer Usher trying to act, but he doesn't have a big part and his persona and look meshes well with Leonard.

While Durán's insults were off putting, the movie does reconcile it later. Though at the time it just makes Durán look like an arrogant villain. Not often does a boxing movie want you to root against the protagonist. Durán wins the match.

Of course Leonard wants a rematch and Durán's manager agrees because it's an eight million dollar payday. Durán is out of shape and unmotivated. He's enjoying his status as champ, and the excess that follows. You can make the link that he's enjoying the riches he never had as a kid, but the movie never directly connects it. Panama and his heritage is just set dressing.
This also serves as a partial excuse for his loss. In the rematch, Durán famously stated "No más." or no more, quitting in the eighth round.
Of course we get another fight to end on a win, but the movie glosses over his losses in the mean time.

This has some big names in the cast, but not much else. The editing is sharp, but you can't hang a hat on that.
Almost any other boxing movie is more interesting, Creed (read my review) provides a solid story, Southpaw (read my review) has a great performance despite lacking story, an even The Great White Hype serves as pulp entertainment.

Day 2 of the Cary Grant Blogathon

It's the second day of the Cary Grant Blogathon and he is just loving the attention. And I am loving all these entries!!

Wide Screen World starts off the day with life soundtracks and Grant's Oscar-nominated performance in Penny Serenade (1941).

Doesn't everyone have couples photos like this?

Realweegiemidget Reviews gives us a post to remember in her look at An Affair to Remember (1957).

That look you get when you realize you're dancing with Cary Grant.

Critica Retro tells us what happens when a rumor involves Cary Grant in Hot Saturday (1932).

Cary wondering where the rest of his posts are.

Anna, Look! tells us what happens when Cary Grant and Sophia Loren collide on a Houseboat (1958)!

What Cary Grant looks like when he's dancing with Sophia Loren!

 

Film Noir Archive investigates Grant's dark side, and childhood, with Suspicion (1941).

When Cary Grant brings you a glass of milk, well...

Once Upon a Screen takes an in-depth look at Cary's style in North By Northwest (1959).

Now, I especially like this article about me here...

Missed Day 1? See those posts here! Check out Day 3 & the Wrap-up post here!

Review: JACKIE (2016)

This review made possible in part through contributions to The MovieBob Patreon.

Spoiler warning for 2017: You're about to go through about a year and a half's worth of politically-themed film and television releases that are going to feel wistfully out of step because they were designed to be "current" with what everyone assumed was going to be the beginning of the Hillary Clinton administration. See: DESIGNATED SURVIVOR (aka "Aw, Remember White Guy Presidents: The Series") Lynda Carter's aggressively pro-immigration lady President on SUPERGIRL and (most imminently) MISS SLOANE, with Jessica Chastain embodying the ultimate ball-busting-Washington-corporatist-as-liberal-superheroine archetype as a near-sociopathic lobbyist who decides to crush The Gun Lobby under her stilletos as a personal challenge. (If only...)

Meanwhile, on the (accidentally) more prescient side, we have JACKIE; in which an iconic First Lady mourns the crib-death of a revolutionary Presidency that almost was as the nation prepares to slide into darkness in the background. Some art is topical, some art has topicality thrust upon it.

Let's get this part out of the way: Unplanned present-day resonance or not, it's hard to see JACKIE outside the context of being as naked an Awards Season Vessel as has ever been conceived. Whatever its other qualities, you'll never quite be able to shake the feeling that what you're seeing was willed into being through some variation on "Portman can do the voice and looks right in the wig. Write a Jackie Kennedy movie so she can get another Oscar nomination." (She's playing Ruth Bader-Ginsberg next, as Hollywood continues working through its apologies for making the instantly-promising actress waste her early 20s in the STAR WARS prequels.)

Structurally, the film is built around providing a gamut of scenarios for Portman to show off how completely she's embodied the character: Here she is as "Demure On-Camera Jackie." Here's "Really Loves Jack Jackie." Hard-Bitten Post-White House Jackie. Sobbing Wreck Jackie. Saintly Mom Jackie. Don't-Talk-Down-To-Me Badass Jackie. In the hands of a lesser actress, it'd feel like little more than a historical-impression decathlon with only the faintest suggestion of connective tissue; but the thing about Natalie Portman has always been that she really is as good her hype - this might not be the equal of her turn in BLACK SWAN (what is?) but it's an electric performance that blazes its way through some of Boomer Nostalgia Cinema's most familiar thematic and tonal material and elevates what might otherwise have felt like a modestly-unconventional biopic (it feels like my late Grandma pitched a Sundance movie) into something close to special.

Helpfully, the need to provide Portman's Jackie with dozens of different facets to show off ends up giving the proceedings a rewarding narrative conceit. Set mainly in the immediate aftermath of JFK's assassination as recalled to a reporter, the plot mainly follows the First Lady as she struggles to keep her composure while jointly planning her husband's funeral and her family's exit from the White House itself. During these preparations, the story flashes back to her famous televised tour of the extensive White House renovations she famously oversaw during her brief two years as First Lady; which gives Portman's turn a chance to be a performance about giving a performance but also allows JACKIE to present the title character in the terms the audience will always best understand her: An avatar of America's own sense of loss in watching "Camelot" recede.

That "Jackie O" might have been as enraptured by the minutiae of her own Kennedy Mythos as the First Couple's biggest fans is perhaps the film's most eyebrow-raising fantasy; but it turns out to be a canny way to cut straight to a genuinely affecting place (it's also what got me thinking about my Grammy, who like all Northeast Catholics was forever in love with the Kennedy mystique - I think she'd have liked the movie.) Portman's Mrs. Kennedy is mourning her husband and marriage, sure, but in terms of onscreen narrative she's sharing America's collective grief (and, eventually, rage) at being robbed of the Kennedy Administration that was supposed to be - and when juxtaposed with those increasingly ironic flashbacks to how much work and care went into creating the life she now didn't get to live... yeah, it got to me, shamelessly manipulative or not.

Granted, this is all helped along by the fact that director Pablo Larrain (THE CLUB, NERUDA) and the score by Mica Levi (UNDER THE SKIN) conspire to keep the atmosphere just offbeat and edgy enough to almost make you forget you're watching a Hollywood biopic. The sound design is unnerving and discomfiting, and Larrain resists the temptation to apply a retro sheen to remind us it's the early 1960s: The cinematography feels deliberately ultra-contemporary, with a by now ubiquitous digital sheen color-graded to a desaturation point you'd mistake for today if not for the clothes and the cars - oh, and the "soft focus" version probably wouldn't offer so explicit a rendering of JFK's blown-open skull, nor had so many lingering shots of Jackie covered in her husband's blood and brain-matter. Stylistically, it's a solid series of choices; resisting the visual-coding for "sentiment" where the acting and screenplay will carry the weight.

Amusingly, though, two of the most emotionally-charged moments play out "on paper" like something ripped straight from the Hallmark Channel: Yes, there's really a scene where Jackie and Bobby (Peter Sarsgaard - Jesus, how have they only made him play a Kennedy once?) literally sit and exchange a somber litany of progressive wish-dreams they won't get to fulfill themselves ("The space program..." "Civil Rights..."); and a penultimate sequence where Portman wanders an empty, soon-to-be-vacated White House knocking back wine, beaming at the decor and giving her best outfits a last show-off for nobody in particular while blasting the Reprise from CAMELOT ("For one brief shining moment...") is sincerely gutting in a way no scene thusly described should reasonably be.

JACKIE isn't one of the year's best films. It's an Oscar-moment showcase for Portman and an "Oh! That's familiar!" historical-tearjerker for grown-ups looking for Holiday movie. But it's miles better than either such thing needs to be, and if America must continue to mythologize how much it misses The Kennedy's for a few years longer (at least until it feels appropriate to begin making "I miss the Obama Years" movies) let them all at least be as satisfying as this.


This review made possible in part through contributions to The MovieBob Patreon. If you'd like to see more like it, please consider becoming a Patron.

Bob Chipman also publishes reviews at Geek.com

PODCAST 232: Plan 9 From Outer Space & Creature From the Haunted Sea

This week the Horror Duo bring Turkey Month to a close. Forest covers the most notorious "bad movie" by famed director Ed Wood, Plan 9 From Outer Space. Cory follows suit and discusses the Roger Corman directed horror comedy, Creature From the Haunted Sea - featuring a healthy dose of Fidel Castro's revolution.

CONTINUE READING

Valkyrie (2008)

Genre

Drama | History | Thriller | War

Director

Bryan Singer

Country

USA | Germany

Cast

Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Kevin McNally, David Schofield, Christina Brekel, Jamie Parker, Eddie Izzard, David Bamber, Thomas Kretschmann, Harvey Friedman, Kenneth Cranham, Matthias Freihof, Matthias Schweighöfer

Storyline

In Nazi Germany during World War II, a cadre of senior German officers and politicians plot to topple the Nazi regime before the nation is crushed in a near-inevitable defeat.

Opinion

I wasn't a bit interested about this film when it came out. First, I don't like Tom Cruise. Second, I labeled it as a boring film. I don't know why, probably because it's a historical/war film and I don't like the genre. But since Bryan Singer has done some pretty good stuff, including "The Usual Suspects", one of my favourites, I (finally) gave it a shot. How bad could it be, right? Well, I surprisingly found myself enjoying the film way more than I thought I would.

Truth being told, "Valkyrie" is a quite solid and engaging historical thriller that works very well despite knowing the outcome before the film even starts.

In fact, even if you are an ignorant like me, and you didn't know about this plot to assassinate Hitler and to topple the Nazi regime, you know how this ends - unless you don't know anything about history -, but the story does have a good pace and the narrative is so good it really engage the viewer.

I do really admire the filmmakers for deciding to tell a forgotten/unknown-to-most story about real life heroes, men willing to sacrifice their lives to live in a different Germany, far away from the Nazi regime.

To my understanding, many have complained about the characters speaking in English without a German accent. I don't see the problem. Actually, I don't see why they should have an accent. That's the most clichéd thing one could do in a WWII film. And I liked that the film opened in German only to transition to English.

All of that being said, the film is by any mean perfect, and it's biggest flaw is the leading actor. I don't know how Stauffenberg was in real life, but Tom Cruise is a little stiff in my opinion. Also, he doesn't really do a thing with the character, and therefore it's hard to see a real person in him.

New in Theaters for December

A lot of movies are premiering in December, but only a few of them interest me. This is why they might be worth watching... or avoiding. It's certainly a sci-fi heavy month.

WATCHING

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (December 16, 2016) 
The first Stars Wars film that isn't a numbered chapter in it's quest to become an ever expanding franchise. It's got the name, it's got the stars, and it will get the fans on that alone. It's Star Wars, I'll be watching it. Will it match The Force Awakens?

Silence (December 23, 2016) Martin Scorsese directs, enough said. In the 17th century, two priests face persecution as Christians in Japan. Starring Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, and Adam Driver.

La La Land (December 9, 2016) Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone star in Damien Chazelle's latest film where a jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress. Chazelle's previous film Whiplash was amazing (read my review), so this gets a watch.

Passengers (December 23, 2016) I'm hoping for something like Pandorum (2009) or Moon (2009), but with big names like Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, my concern is there purpose is to hide the lack of story.
They are two passengers that wake up 90 years early on space flight.

The Space Between Us (December 16, 2016) The first human born on Mars journeys to Earth, but his body isn't made to with stand the planet. I can't pass up a sci-fi film.

Gold (December 30, 2016) 
I'm torn. I've enjoyed the McConaissance, but McConaughey's previous films about gold, Fool's Gold (2008) and Sahara (2005) didn't pan out. I'm hoping he can break the curse with this film.

AVOIDING

Office Christmas Party (December 9, 2016) 
With the office on the verge of being shut down, the manager throws an epic party. This hits that vertex of uninspired party movie and trope filled Christmas flick.

Assassin's Creed (December 23, 2016) Video game movies have a terrible track record. Is Michael Fassbender in this to showcase his talent or for the big fat check? He's done both.
The main character is able to relive memories of his ancient ancestors who are part of a lineage of assassins.

Solace (December 16, 2016) A psyhic works with the FBI to track down a killer. While Anthony Hopkins isn't the killer this time, I'm betting this movie is still trying to ride the coat tails of Silence of the Lambs (1991). Want to take bets on whether there is a twist?

Live By Night (December 30, 2016) A prohibition era film? It's difficult to make an organized crime film stand out when The Godfather is in the same genre. Can Ben Affleck make this a 1920's version of The Town? This one might be a miss.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Netflix Mini-series Review

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016)
Mini-series - 4 episodes

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

Watch Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
Created by: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Starring: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop
Rated: TV-14

Plot
Consisting of four 90 minute episodes that depict one of four seasons, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore's story in Stars Hollow, Connecticut continues. Rory is trying to determine her next occupation while Lorelai deals with a loss at the inn, her mother's grief, and uncertainty at home.

Verdict
When one of your favorite series, like Gilmore Girls, returns you need to watch it. I've never watched this show until now, so I'm missing all of the background. I can't compare this to the original run. If you've seen this show, it's a must watch, but it does not stand on it's own. It banks hard on nostalgia, as it should.
It's quaint, but creates many silly situations. This isn't a show to which you can always apply logic, which is okay, but often it's so far out there that I can't begin to suspend my disbelief. Understand that this show caters to fans of the show, and those fans only.
Regardless of whether you're a fan, you should dislike the ending.
Watch it (If you've seen the show) Skip it. (If you've never seen the show)

Review
Gilmore Girls originally ran from 2000-2007. I've never watched the show, so I'm reviewing this mini-series based on it's own merits which makes me one of the few to watch this and not to have watched the original run. I did watch the one minute season recaps, but that didn't help much. That gave me a lot of names and a very basic premise.

Winter

I've heard of Gilmore Girls, no doubt it's popular, and when a beloved show returns nine years later, you've got to watch it, provided you watched the original run. When Fox brought The X-Files back, I watched every episode, and even kept watching after the strange episode where Mulder has a fake country music drug trip.


"How does that work?", is a question I asked often during this mini-series. This is very much a network sitcom, and I don't require a show to ascribe to strict logic. The back alley secret bar works perfectly fine, but when Rory takes an unpaid job at a newspaper when she's leaving town in three weeks, what's the point? Won't the newspaper shut down again?

This show delights in setting up a situation and providing no context. This is a bewildering show. Rory has left her Brooklyn apartment, but provides no clear indication as to what she's actually doing. As the episode progresses we're told she'll keep freelancing and live in three different places. While I get what she is doing, the question is why she decides to live in London, New York, and Stars Hollow simultaneously.

Summer

The banter is quick, but too cute. The little back and forth dialogue is too clever. It's something that would only develop in a writers' room, every line referencing pop culture like Spinal Tap or The Sopranos. It just didn't sound natural. No one talks like that. While I noticed it less as the show went on, I'd ascribe it to the first episode trying to show off, proving the ability hasn't faded.
We do get a recurring joke about Rory's forgettable boyfriend Paul. It's very much an Arrested Development Ann joke, with Rory forgetting she has a boyfriend in Paul, and forgetting to break up with him. We see him once. The joke is silly, but it completely works.

Lorelai and Emily in therapy.

The first episode sets the stage for where these characters are, the second and third episodes creates the conflict. Lorelai's mother Emily is dealing with the death of her husband Richard. Emily is in therapy and forces Lorelai to join her. This results in sessions of silence or Emily telling Lorelai to stop talking. Emily is pushing Luke to create a Luke's Diner franchise, to which he is reluctant.
Neither Lorelai or Luke is telling the other about what Emily is doing and this creates a rift. That and Lorelai is exploring the possibility of having a baby, because why not make her story line as messy as possible? I'm guessing that was added to provide a chance for Rory's old roommate Paris to cameo.

Is that Logan in the background?

Rory's life is floundering, but Jess provides an answer. Rory decides to write a book about her and her mother's relationship. If it succeeds maybe they can turn it into a television pilot, but what would they call it?
Rory approaches her mom about the book. Rory is unreasonable, demanding her mom release her rights to the book. I get Lorelai's side. She doesn't want to let all of the skeletons out of the closet. How real will this book get, and how will it depict her? Lorelai is coming to terms with the fact that her parents weren't the best. She has a hard time coming up with one good story about her father. Is this book going to take shots at her being a single mother?
Rory is so insistent on the book because her life has crashed. She had all of the potential, even had minor success, but she's still back at Star's Hollow, insisting "I'm not back." This book is her answer, the solution that will stop the free fall that is her life because she doesn't want to be stuck in the thirty somethings gang, a group that has returned to their childhood homes in Stars Hollow, having failed at their endeavors.
That and she's continuing a relationship with Logan who has a fiancee, she has to see that ending soon. She needs something to fill the void, thus the book.

The last episode had my least favorite introduction and a conclusion that was prefect, until the final four words.
The first scene is rough. Lorelai is at a hotel packing her bag for a hike and calls Luke. It's a rough scene in acting and execution. Every part of the scene leaves something to be desired. We then get a Rory sequence that  I wondered, even after it concluded, whether it was a dream. It's inexplicable. Logan and his friends are dressed up in something resembling Victorian England garb. They prance around Stars Hollow, stealing golf clubs to drive balls on the roof, buy a nightclub, and break into convenience stores while leaving wads of cash. It's bizarre, and yet it isn't a dream. This concludes the Logan plot, who is getting married.  He's been engaged the entire time while continuing a fling with Rory.
Also, Lorelai's hiking trip didn't pan out, but she got the clarity she sought.

Lorelai and Rory.

The final episode does a great job of tying up all the loose plot points. Lorelai and Emily reconcile, with Lorelai finally recalling a good memory about her father.
Rory will write the book with Lorelai's blessing, and Luke and Lorelai will get married. There's a great final sequence of the wedding decorations and the marriage, but I knew this show would try to ruin it by including one more teaser scene. It does that and how. It's so pointless because you don't continue a mini-series, and yet this is primed for an additional chapter.

You could have cut this before the final scene or at least before the last four words and it would have been perfectly fine. Instead the show forgoes a neat conclusion, forcing ardent fans to beg for more.

Michael Che Matters Netflix Comedy Review

Michael Che Matters (2016)

Michael Che Matters - A solid set.

Watch Michael Che Matters on Netflix
Written by: Michael Che
Directed by: Osmany Rodriguez

Plot
Former SNL Weekend Update co-anchor and The Daily Show Correspondent Michael Che performs.

Verdict
Che delivers a solid routine that starts broad before getting political. He hits Black Lives Matter, presidents, Harambe the gorilla, and discusses why girls get away with being creepy. This feels like true stand-up and Che references earlier jokes throughout the routine,  combining them with current jokes.
Watch it.

Review
Che opens the performance talking about the homeless, it's a joke that's mostly inclusive before he gets a bit more political.

With the homeless, Che details how no one wants to acknowledge them. If you do look at them, you don't want to give them money, or at least not too much. Pulling out a $20 is the worst, because you can't show them a $20 and not give it to them.

Che is sharp and a number of his jokes come full circle when he references them again. It's a well plotted set, and bringing earlier jokes back unifies his routine.

This feels like true standup, as compared to the contemplating of Dieter Nuhr, Dana Carvey's impressions, and Colin Quinn's history lesson.

Che soon transitions to political subjects. He covers Black Lives Matter, the Orlando Isis, Harambe the gorilla and gun rights among others.

Her criticizes the response against Black Lives Matter and the rhetoric of All Lives Matter. If your wife asks you if you love her, and you respond that you love everybody, that isn't going to end well.

If the first amendment is that you can say whatever you want, then you'll need a gun which is why gun rights is the second amendment.

As far as how important gorillas are, Che asks how long it would take you to notice the gorilla rapture if no one reported on it. How often do you interact with gorillas on a daily basis? How important are they really?

He talks about the twin towers mantra of "Never forget." He's going to make a run of "All Buildings Matter" shirts so that no buildings are left out.

Che illicits a few boos when he starts talking about Trump, but counters that Trump makes a great best friend though he shouldn't be president.

Che's set seems to end almost mid-sentence. It would have been nice to have a solid closer.

Day 1 of the Cary Grant Blogathon

Well, the Cary Grant Blogathon is finally here and I couldn't be more excited to see all of the posts you have written on one of my favorite actors! Cary is excited to read them too so we'll get right to it.

><><><><><><

Cinematic Scribblings tells us about Secrecy and Lies in Charade (1963).

When you're sitting next to Cary Grant and

trying to look at him without him noticing.

Moon in Gemini tells us why she loves Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

 

When you realize what you're eating contains arsenic.

Wolffian Classics Movie Digest tells us what it takes to be a leading man, especially in the madcap His Girl Friday (1940).

What Cary does when your post isn't up on time (luckily Wolffian didn't have this problem).

The Midnite Drive In talks about Diamonds and Lust in She Done Him Wrong (1933) - and what to say if Mae West invites you to her room!

Who can resist that look?

Caftan Woman tells us what happens when Cary is The Talk of the Town (1942)

See! I TOLD you it wasn't a Ronald Colman Blogathon!

Vienna's Classic Hollywood gives us the highlights of Mr. Lucky (1943).

Judging you if you haven't watched this movie yet.

The Flapper Dame tells us about her first encounter with Cary and Only Angels Have Wings (1939).

I'm sorry, but did you just say I'm not the focus of this movie?

See Day 2, Day 3, and the Wrap-up post here!

In Bob We Trust: SUPERGIRL MAKES IT LOOK EASY

The Wicker Man (1973)

Genre

Horror | Mystery

Director

Robin Hardy

Country

UK

Cast

Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp, Russell Waters, Aubrey Morris, Irene Sunter, Donald Eccles, Walter Carr, Roy Boyd, Peter Brewis, Geraldine Cowper, John Young

Storyline

Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) is sent to Summerisle, a Scottish island villain, to intestivage the disappearance of a young girl whom the townsfolk claim never existed.

Opinion

Years ago I watched the remake starring Nicolas Cage. It was truly pathetic, and I had no interest whatsoever in seeing the original. Then people started telling me how much better the original was, so I finally gave it a shot. But it didn't blow me away. The thing is that I found "The Wicker Man" a weird and creepy combination of a horror and a musical. And it has aged terribly.

That, however, doesn't mean the film is bad. The most impressive thing about it is arguably the story that, as bizarre as it gets, manages to be very interesting since the very beginning, building suspense as it increases in oddities and creepiness. Also worth of a mention is the story's ability to grab the viewer's attention and keep their interest all the way to the ending, even when that person already knows how the story is going to end.

The film is also an attack and a criticism to the rigid British morale, portrayed to perfection throughout the protagonist, Sergeant Neil Howie, a virgin and bigoted man that will stick to his Christian beliefs until the end.

What I didn't like about the film was the impossibility to categorize is into a genre. It is not a pure horror - that also would require shock elements, gore and/or killings -, it isn't a true mystery film - despite the final twist, the story still is quite predictable. Also there is a lot of dancing and singing, which makes the film look more like a musical than anything else. (Does that even make sense?) And I was expecting a horror/thriller. 

Other than that, everything else is fine. The music fits the story; the characters are interesting and well developed, but mostly important they are brought to life by an outstanding cast, from Edward Woodward who gives a tremendous performances as the police sergeant, to Christopher Lee who is terrific and creepy as the eccentric lord. And by the way, Lee totally steals the show.

Netflix NEWS 11.28.16

Netflix NEWS

Updates on Netflix original content releasing this week and the announcements from last week.
Netflix Originals Releasing Next Week

Merlí Season 1 (December 1) 
Netflix Exclusive Series - 13 episodes
In this Spanish language series, Merlí is a high school philosophy teacher who encourages students to think outside the box. His unorthodox methods causes concerns from parents and teachers.

Fauda Season 1 (December 2)

Netflix Israeli Series Continuation

This Israeli political  thriller follows a deep cover Israeli Defense Force unit that  infiltrates Palestine to thwart terror attacks.
Season 1 aired on Israeli television and was the most watched series in history on Israeli TV, breaking barriers by giving equal screen time to Jews and Arabs. It will air with Arabic and Hebrew languages with English subtitles. Netflix will continue season 2, release date TBA.

Hip Hop Evolution Season 1 (December 2)
Netflix Series
This documentary details the origins of hip hop in 1970's New York and its development in the following years. This series features interviews with famed artists and visits influential landmarks.

Pacific Heat Season 1 (December 2) - Only in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland

Netflix Series with Foxtel

This animated adult series is a cop show satire, Hawaii 5-0 meets The A-Team, looking similar to Archer. A covert squad fights crime in Australia.
Watch the trailer

Lost & Found Music Studios Season 2 (December 3) - Excludes Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland

Netflix Kids Series

Singer-songwriters in a music program make friends while turning their passion into a profession.

Netflix Trailers


Reggie Watts: Spatial - Trailer
Mercy - Trailer
White Rabbit Project Season 1 - Trailer


Netflix Previews/Clips

Netflix - Coming Together Thanksgiving Clip
Michael Che Matters - Screwed the Pooch Clip
Michael Che Matters - Not for the Easily Offended Clip

Netflix Announcements

Club de Cuervos Season 2 - Binge Watching is a Team Sport 
Medici: Masters of Florence Season 1 Date Announcement

Also Watched - Independence Day: Resurgence, Swiss Army Man

This week I watched Independence Day: Resurgence, Swiss Army Man
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Twenty years after the first Independence day invasion, the Earth is threatened again by aliens.

Swiss Army Man (2016)
Stranded on a deserted island, Hank befriends a dead body and embarks on a surreal journey back home.

Brown Nation Season 1 Review

Brown Nation (2016-)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2016)
Watch Brown Nation on Netflix

In this sitcom, Hasmukh deals with his floundering IT business during the day and his listless wife and overbearing father-in-law at home.

Colin Quinn: The New York Story Review

Colin Quinn: The New York Story (2016)
Watch Colin Quinn: The New York Story on Netflix

Directed by Jerry Seinfeld, Colin Quinn performs his off-Broadway show about the history of New York and its people.

Paranoid Mini-series Review

Paranoid (2016)
Mini-series - 8 episodes
Watch Paranoid on Netflix
Excludes United Kingdom, Ireland

This series follows the ever expanding investigation into the murder of a doctor that occurred in broad daylight in front of her son on a crowded playground.

Divines Movie Review

Divines (2016)
Watch Divines on Netflix
Excludes France

Set in the French suburbs, a teenager and her best friend descend into a life of crime and money when they begin working for a female drug boss.