DAMIEN RILEY | World Music | HQ Blog – Page 788 – Damien Riley Singer and Guitarist

Between Us (2016)

Streaming now on Netflix! This is an independent film that tries to show the reality of fights in a couple that probably shouldn’t be together but stay that way out of comfort. It shows we can get comfortable in familiar torture.

Between Us

“Thirlby and Feldman play a couple confronted by the fear that settling down and getting married means…” -IMDB

Cast

Alison Sudol Nadia
Analeigh Tipton Veronica
Olivia Thirlby Dianne
Lesley Ann Warren Elsa

Directed by

Rafael Palacio Illingworth

Written by

Rafael Palacio Illingworth

Other Info

Comedy, Drama, Romance

2016
100min
IMDB Rating: 5.6

Director, Rafael Palacio Illingworth, has directed 3 films as near as I can tell. Another film of his, “Macho,” is described as having a lot of sex scenes in between titles. He seems comfortable shooting sex scenes, there are many in this film as well. Mayeb it was just me but it seems these were forced and served to show how the lovers were incompatible.

The actors include Alison Sudol, Analeigh Tipton, Olivia Thirlby They all do a pretty good job but in my opinion the script isn’t realistic and that takes away from their impact.

A man and a woman feel pressured to get married so they begin to question why they are together.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This film is not very well made. Still, it does fit into the “chick flick” category. There is a coupe and they fight, a lot. They explore things and it’s a great film to discuss at Starbucks later. Expect little and be impressed as well as entertained. Please leave me a comment! This title is streaming now on Netflix!

8/10

The Ritual

I’d been waiting for this film to come into theaters and once again: we have a Netflix movie that never made it there. Is that bad? This is the first real horror film of 2018 and it certainly watches like one. Unlike some movies that have come down the pike in a forest that really weren’t horror like “The Witch” and “It Comes at Night,” this one has the elements of a horror and delivers as such.

The Ritual (2017)
1h 34min | Horror | 9 February 2018 (USA)

A group of college friends reunite for a trip to the forest, but encounter a menacing presence in the woods that’s stalking them.
Director: David Bruckner
Writers: Joe Barton, Adam Nevill (novel)
Stars: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier

The director is David Bruckner, known for “V/H/S,” “Southbound,” and “The Signal.” Looking at these titles makes me realize he has a solid background in horror and “The Ritual” is his foray into the big time. This one will probably be enjoyed by more than the others. It’s an “on location” piece meaning it is filmed in the woods. This must have proved challenging. I found some pparts of it to be a little misguided but as a whole, this is a directorial accomplishment.

There is a house the hikers happen upon in the film. Upstairs there is an odd piece of ritual like art. It looks rustic and religious in form. I found not much was explained there and it never really added up for me what was happening there. It was if it was just being blamed on the supernatural when the scenes could have held better clues.

Other than the house scene, the film develops well throughout. The ending is a massive crescendo and it’s nothing you’d expected up to that point. By saying less, he says more. By suggesting the size and shape of creatures, he makes them all that more scary. Because it’s supernatural, we can’t really argue logic here which is good for the director because it’s lacking a bit there. Having said that, I found this horror film scary and full of suspense. There are many roads to Rome and this one definitely finds its way there. I give it a 8/10

‘Star Trek: Beyond’ – Don’t Blink on This Ride

Starring: Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Directed By: Justin Lin

Studio: Paramount Pictures

MPAA Rating
PG-13

I saw Star Trek: Beyond last night on its second night after release. When I see Star Trek films, I usually miss some secret winks because I am not much of a “Trekkie” and therefore don’t know the labyrinth of secret passageways that many others I meet new. In fact, my wife, who is not a film critic, explains a lot to me when we go to see these films. Last night had a few parts I couldn’t figure out but I’ll avoid those.

Instead, I’ll tell you that Captain Kirk is put in a position to save the galaxy (common theme). The adventurous quest to do that is a rip-roaring ride! Directed by Justin Lin (Fast and the Furious), the spaceships are now the race cars. There is a lot of action in this film but I must disagree with some other critics who are saying it’s too fast and furious. There are moments of suspense as well and moments where the viewers is ban rest, stop, and get cerebral..

The visuals are stunning. Because this is a quick review intended to have “no spoilers,” I won’t describe them to you. I will say that in 1977 when Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, and Mark Hamill saw the death star for the first time, it had a mind-blowing effect on movie goers. There is actually some stuff in this film that will leave you in “shock and awe” in a similar way. Please note however that the plot is pretty good and special effects are secondary to that, which always makes me happy.

There is so much in this film worthy of the ticket price. There is a side story Spock is dealing with, sense that virtually fill the movie with the now departed Anton Yelchin, a Smokin’ hot Zoe Zaldana, a vaguely funny Simon Pegg (but funny all the same.) I had a blast watching this film. I anticipate Trekkies will like the new villain Krall (Idris Elba). He’s a tortured creature with a lot of hate for the federation which makes for some really juicy fight scenes. I did have some issues with the film. Instead of developing the villain they sort of catapulted him into hate mode. I wanted to know more about him and why he became who he was. It was explained a little in a very rushed fashion in the last 1/4 of the film but I think doing that earlier would have invested me more in his character. For the haziness of the villain, I took one star away. This is an amazing film, I highly recommend it.

True Grit (2010)

Long before Hailee Steinfeld wowed audiences in “Edge of Seventeen,” she played this role of the teenage girl in “True Grit.” It was a great casting choice since she has the same sassy attitude as the girl in the original. She works perfectly alongside Jeff Bridges who definitely takes the original role of Rooster Cogburn and gives John Wayne a run for his money. This remake is a lot of fun.

True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 1h 50min | Adventure, Drama, Western | 22 December 2010 (USA)

A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father’s murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Writers: Joel Coen (screenplay), Ethan Coen (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld

The directing duo here, Ethan and Joel Coen, are a dynamo and probably need no introduction. They took on a huge undertaking with this remake and in most ways pulled it off. They inject a humor into their films that starts to feel familiar the more of their movies you see. It is here but the general vibe of the film seems to be in effort to bring the original “True Grit” to a modern audience.

Watching the film, it was like the remake of a sing note for note. The only differences were the drunken growling style of Bridges voice contrasted against the nasally, self-assured voice of John Wayne. Josh Brolin and Matt Damon really didn’t add much to the roles they played either. I think in reflection, I enjoyed the original immensely and also the remake but not enough to really justify them making it. The Cohen Brothers are original dudes. They shouldn’t attempt to copy a masterpiece unless they are going to put their own changes into it.

Riley’s Favorite Films of 2017

Ok so we finished out 2017. I’m glad I survived, it was wild here on this end. How about you? Well, along the way I managed to watch a lot of movies. I made this list to show the ones I liked.

Also, I got into a new format here at my blog of shorter reviews (100-300 words) and I got serious about podcasting at the Damien Riley Podcast. The format there is 5 minute film reviews. As you can see, I was busy. The films below were quite enjoyable to me. They are in no particular order because I would have to force that so I decided against it. When I did a podcast on a film, I put the player there for interested ears. Have you seen the whole list? Which did you enjoy in 2017? Please leave me comments!

‘Good Kill’

*This review contains spoilers.

This thriller moves a bit slow but builds the suspense until you get the point like a tidal wave: War is hell whether “in theater” or via joystick.

Good Kill (2014)

Cast

Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Zoë Kravitz

Directed by

Andrew Niccol

Written by

Andrew Niccol

Other Info

R
1h 42min
Drama, Thriller

Writer/Director Andrew Niccol has an impressive resume: 2014 Good Kill, 1998 The Truman Show, 1997 Gattaca, and more. Good Kill is just the latest impressive project he’s done. It deals with the individual conscience amidst a system that goes against it.

Major Thomas Egan, Ethan Hawke, is a grounded pilot. He has become part of a secretive force that controls drones in Afghanistan by controls resembling that of an XBox. He is stationed in Las Vegas and goes to kill every day in a portable room of sorts where the remote equipment is kept. There are many rooms like this. In fact, Egan is not alone in his daily kills. He has a team with him.

In charge of Egan’s team is Lt. Colonel Jack Johns (Bruce Greenwood). Being a huge fan of his, I was glad to see him in this role. I liked the character because he wore his heart on his sleeve. He shared his difficulties with the drone kills they were doing. Still, he never breached his orders and did what he was told from his commander.

Egan starts regretting what he has to do every day. He begs the Colonel to put him back in the plane but that seems like it will never happen. Egan starts seeing rape and murder happening and he is told to stick to the orders. He is told the rapist “is a bad man but not their bad man.” He is ordered to let him be.

Events like this and others like collateral damage he witnesses cause profound strain on Egan. He starts drinking and neglecting his wife and kids. From there we starts to see him crumble and we learn through his story what this sort of remote warfare can do to an individual.

This film is done very well. The obvious comparisons to XBox games like Call of Duty are there but it’s more about real war I think. How many of theirs do we have to kill until they stop killing us? Is this sort of warfare that is going on now in real life actually protecting us from terrorism? So many questions like these are raised in this film. I would have liked it if they gave more background on his type of warfare and showed the connection to video games. It was alluded to that there is a connection but seeing that as part of the story would have sent a stronger message to the young men and women out there who get vehemently into these games. Because that connection was not explored much, it lost a star for me. I still think this is one of the better films of 2014, I recommend it.

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