Triple Frontier

‘Triple Frontier’ is a 2019 Netflix original. I say it every time, Netflix always kills it with their original movies, unlike most of the other movies they stream. ‘Triple Frontier’ isn’t any different. ‘Triple Frontier’ is about a group of special force operatives who are brought back together by one of their members, when he decides to take down a drug king pin and keep his 250 million hiding in his jungle fortress. Problem is, it’s easy taking the 250 million, but it’s much harder making it out of the jungle with it.

‘Triple Frontier’ has a good cast starring Ben Afflek (The Way Back), Oscar Issac (Ex Machina), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Garrett Hedlund (Dirt Music), Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), and Adria Arjona (6 Underground).

I love seeing Ben Afflek getting back into more roles. He’s a great actor, and his movies are normally always good. ‘Triple Frontier’ is a non stop adrenaline rush from start to finish. When you don’t think anything else can go wrong, it does. ‘Triple Frontier’ is a must watch, I give it a 8/10.

Hail, Caesar!

‘Hail, Caesar!’ is a 2016 mystery/comedy currently streaming on Netflix, which is more mystery than comedy. It features a block buster cast, seriously a lot of heavy hitters in this one, including Josh Brolin (Deadpool 2, Avengers: Endgame), George Clooney, Tilda Swinton (Avengers: Endgame, Doctor Strange), Ralph Fiennes (Kubo and the Two Strings, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Jonah Hill (War Dogs, 21 Jump Street), Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street), Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame), and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story). Plus a few others, it’s hard to think of another movie with this many top actors and actresses.

‘Hail, Caesar!’ is a period piece set in the golden age of Hollywood. It follows a studio fixer going through his daily struggles of righting what’s wrong in the Hollywood studio. I love period films centered around the golden age of Hollywood, I always find it as an interesting time in Hollywood and history in general. There are several mini plots in this movie and one main one with George Clooney being kidnapped on set and held for ransom. With as much fire power as this movie has it’s just an okay film. It’s interesting but that’s about it, it jumps around trying to fill in all the stars without really focusing on one direction. It reminds me of AHS when you see the star for the first time in a season and get really excited. It’s another movie with too many heavy hitters that just becomes okay at best. I give it a 6/10

Troop Zero

‘Troop Zero’ is a 2020 Amazon exclusive family comedy. It takes place in rural Georgia in 1977, following the story of misfit little girl who dreams of space. She finds out a golden record is being put together of voice recordings that will be transmitted into space. The winning Birdie Scouts troop of the jamboree will be recorded on the golden record. She must now put together a rag tag group of other misfits in order to be able to compete at the jamboree.

‘Troop Zero’ stars Viola Davis (Widows, The Help), McKenna Grace (Gifted), Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show), Mike Epps ( Next Friday, Friday after Next), and Allison Janney (I, Tonya).

With the rag tag team bonding, and realizing their differences make them special, makes ‘Troop Zero’ a feel good movie for the whole family. It reminds me of other movies such as ‘Little Giants’, or ‘The Little Rascals’. Who doesn’t love a good underdog story with a loveable cast of misfits? I give it a 6.5/10.

Onward

‘Onward’ is a 2020 animated Fantasy movie by Pixar. ‘Onward’ was in theaters still when the quarantine was put in place, but you can now stream it on Disney+. Which I’m sure a lot of parents are thankful for. ‘Onward’ follows the story of two elf brothers who are given a gift by their deceased dad, they are not allowed to open it until they are both sixteen or older. The gift is a magic staff that allows them to bring back their dad for one day. They are missing a piece and are now on a quest to retrieve it in order to bring their dad back.

‘Onward’ has a blockbuster cast starring Tom Holland (Spider-man: Homecoming.), Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy, Parks and Recreation.), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld), and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures, The Help.), plus many others.

The question with ‘Onward’ is not if it is good or not, but how good is it? Pixar hasn’t made a bad film, and at this point, I don’t think they are capable of it. Pixar always comes up with the most original ideas such as ‘Toy Story’, ‘A Bug’s Life’, ‘Inside Out’, ‘CoCo’, and ‘Monsters INC.’ Not only are their movies original, they also hit you in the feels harder than any other animated movies. You know it’s coming when you watch a Pixar film, and ‘Onward’ isn’t any different. So how does ‘Onward’ stack up? It does drag a little bit in the middle but is pulled all back together in the end. If this movie doesn’t at least make you tear up, you’re not human. The casting is great, Tom Holland and Chris Pratt are perfect for their roles. ‘Onward’ is another hit out of the park for Pixar and is going to go down as a classic with their other films. It is a must see, and I give it a 8.5/10.

Trolls World Tour

‘Trolls World Tour’ is the 2020 sequel to the 2016 film ‘Trolls’. Since theaters are closed, for obvious reasons, ‘Trolls World Tour’ dropped streaming world wide a couple of days ago on Friday April 10th. I find it really cool they did this, it still gives everyone a chance to see it, versus pushing back the opening date.

The pop trolls find out they’re not the only troll nation. Their world is made up of six providences Funk, Country, Pop, Techno, Classical, and Rock. Each Nation has a guitar string that controls their music. Barb the Queen of Rock is determined to steal all the guitar strings and turn the nations into one under Rock. Now Poppy and Branch must find a way to stop Barb.

‘Trolls World Tour’ has a fantastic cast starring Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect), Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom (Robot Chicken), James Corden (Carpool Karaoke), Kelly Clarkson, Ozzy Osbourne, Kenan Thompson (Kenan & Kel), and Sam Rockwell (Seven Psychopaths), plus many more.

The first trolls movie is really good, so naturally there is a lot of anticipation for the second one. Unfortunately it falls flat. I think this is the case with a lot of sequels when the first one is so good, its hard to live up to the hype. The plot is good, but they focus a little too much on the music and not enough on the story, so it’s not really brought 100 percent together. Now if you have kids I suggest still getting it, they will love all the music and dancing, but just don’t expect to like it as much. I give it a 5.5/10.

Coffee and Kareem

‘Coffee and Kareem’ is an action/comedy Netflix original starring Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover), Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures), Betty Gilpin (GLOW, Stuber), RonReaco Lee (The Shield), Andrew Bachelor (The Babysitter), Chance Hurstfield (Good Boys), and Terrence Little Gardenhigh.

Twelve year old Kareem (Gardenhigh) tries to hire a well know gangbanger, Orlando Johnson (Lee), to beat up his mom’s new boyfriend James Coffee (Helms). Things go south fast when Kareem witnesses Orlando and his crew murdering a cop. Now Kareem and Coffee must band together despite their differences to stay alive and get to the bottom of what’s going on.

This movie was different than what I was expecting. I like Ed Helms but outside ‘The Office’ and ‘The Hangover’ he doesn’t seem to be too good. Take ‘The Clapper’ and ‘Corporate Animals’, not the best and pretty forgettable films. ‘Coffee and Kareem’ is more vulgar than expected. The entire film is filled with F bombs and sexual jokes, which personally doesn’t bug me, but if you don’t like that sort of thing this film isn’t for you. It reminds me of ‘Good Boys’ in that aspect, a kid running around cussing the entire time. ‘Coffee and Kareem’ does have a lot of funny moments, but other than that it just flows along in predictability. It’s not bad, just okay. I give it a 6/10

Wilding

As mentioned in previous reviews while the majority of us are stuck at home watching streaming services such as Netflix, I’m going to be mostly reviewing movies found on streaming services. This time I’ll be reviewing ‘Wilding’. ‘Wilding’ is a 2018 fantasy/horror movie that you can find on Netflix. It follows the story of Anna (Bel Powley) who spends her entire life in captivity, she’s not allowed to go outside or leave her room because the Wilding may get her. A Wilding is a werewolf like creature who only eats children. The only socialization Anna gets is from her daddy (Brad Dourif). When Anna is sixteen, her daddy shoots himself in the head and both end up being hospitalized. A friendly sheriff takes Anna in, and for the first time in her life she is experiencing the outside world.

‘Wilding’ cast includes Bel Powley (White Boy Rick), Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Child’s Play), James Legros (Hunters), Liv Tyler (Armageddon), and Collin Kelly-Sordelet (Radium Girls).

‘Wilding’ has a real brothers grimm feel to it in the beginning, she’s captive in a house in the woods and there’s a supernatural creature in the woods. First half or more is really good, it’s mysterious and her interactions with society for the first time really draws you in. The next half or so takes a weird turn and becomes kind of boring. It reminds me of ‘Sorry to Bother You’ in that aspect, really good movie then just takes a hard left turn and becomes weird when all of a sudden they are being turned into horse people with giant horse dicks. Honestly where did that even come from. I still like the originality of this film, it’s hard to find good creature horror films. I think it’s still worth the watch even though it didn’t remain as good as it started out. I give it a 5.5/10.

Riot (2015)

While quarantine and social distancing is still going on, I’m still reviewing movies you can see while stuck at home. Majority of these movies are all on Netflix. I’m going to talk about ‘Riot’. ‘Riot’ is a 2015 action film starring Matthew Reese (The Eleventh Hour), Danielle C. Ryan (The Cat in the Hat), Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV), and Chuck Liddell.

‘Riot’ is about a former cop, Jack Stone (Reese), who orchestrates a robbery in order to be put in the same prison as a Russian crime lord (Liddell) who killed his family. There is now a 100,000 dollar bounty on Jack’s head, Jack Stone is out for revenge while trying to stay alive.

When thinking of good actors I’ve never heard anyone mention Dolph Lundgren, or Chuck Liddell, they’re simply not. You know what you’re going to get when you watch a film with them in it, not a lot of substance but a ton of action. However in Dolph Lundgren’s favor, ‘Rocky IV’ is the best Rocky movie. ‘Riot’ though is just bad. Lundgren plays an undercover agent in the prison who is a prisoner with special needs, the acting is just terrible. Liddell’s fake Russian accent is atrocious not to mention his bad acting on top of it. The whole thing is just cheesy, bad acting, and no substance. Give this one a pass, I give it a 4/10.

Circle

‘Circle’ is a thriller/horror movie from 2015, not to get confused with Netflix’s 2020 reality show ‘The Circle’, although you can find ‘Circle’ on Netflix as well. ‘Circle’ is about fifty strangers who wake up in a mysterious chamber without any recollection how they got there or what is going on. Every two minutes one will die by a system of voting, if they don’t vote one will die at random. Old, young, white, black, Asian, rich, poor, educated, and uneducated it doesn’t matter they’re all there. Obviously there is a big cast since there is fifty people, no real big names are in the movie. However, it does star Michael Nardelli (The Collection), Lawrence Kao (Wu Assassins), and Carter Jenkins (Aliens in the Attic).

‘Circle’ is about humanity, and our thought process in a difficult decision. I respect that, and I like the concept of this film. Ultimately though, it falls flat. It’s just fifty people arguing for an hour and a half while one by one they get killed till there’s only one left. I could have just watched ‘Survivor’ if I wanted to see people argue and get voted off. I give this one a 4/10.

The Platform

‘The Platform’ is a Netflix original 2019 Spanish horror film titled ‘EL Hoyo’, then translated and dubbed over to English. ‘The Platform’ is a multilevel vertical prison with a giant hole running down the middle. Each floor contains two prisoners. A platform descends through the prison starting with floor one all the way to the last floor, the platform is covered in luxiourious foods such as lobster, escargot, wine, etc. Each floor only has a certain amount of time to eat as much as possible before the platform goes to the next floor, it’s only around a minute. You can’t keep anything off the table, if you do the room will heat up to boiling temperatures or freezing until you throw the item down the hole back to the platform. Once the food runs out it runs out, the lower floors are out of luck. Normally food doesn’t make it past level 52. It is unknown how many floors there are but it is speculated over 250. Many of the lower floors have to murder their roommate in order to survive. The prisoners spend one month on their floor then are randomly shuffled to another floor. One new inmate is determined to change this system.

Being a Spanish film, naturally it stars an all Spanish cast. Ivan Massague, Antonia San Juan, and Emilio Buale Coka, star in this film.

I hate giving away things in films, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. There is a political message behind this movie, which I won’t go into. This film is insane from start to finish. It is gory, brutal, and has you saying WTF the entire time. The acting is brilliant, the story is original, and very well executed. This is a gem on Netflix and a must watch. I give it a 9/10