Spencer Confidential

‘Spencer Confidential’ is a Netflix exclusive starring Mark Wahlberg. It’s been in the top 10 in the U.S. on Netflix since dropping last week. I’ve said more than once and I’ll say it again, I love how Netflix keeps dropping all these exclusive movies and going after big stars and who better than Marky Mark. Keep it coming Netflix.

‘Spencer Confidential features a great cast staring Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke (Black Panther, US), Alan Arkin (Going in Style), Iliza Shlesinger (Instant Family), Bokeem Woodbine (Queen & Slim), Mark Maron (GLOW), and even Post Malone.

The story follows Spencer (Mark Wahlberg) an ex-cop who just got of prison for assaulting a dirty cop. When the dirty cop turns up dead the same day Spencer gets out of prison, him and his no nonsense roommate get roped into finding out who did it and taking the bad guys down.

This action comedy looked really good in the trailer, but Netflix has a tendency to overplay their trailers and give away too much. Plus Mark Wahlberg is not in a bad film. All the action scenes that happen in the movie appear in the trailer, from the trailer I was expecting more but there just wasn’t. It’s almost a two hour movie and the first 30/45 minutes really drag. After that though the movie gets pretty good and the plot really comes together. I was just expecting a little more out of it, if they shortened it by half an hour I think it would be a fantastic film. They ended it with hints of a second film, which I really don’t think they need. Just leave it one and done. I have to give this one a 6/10.

A Fall From Grace

‘A Fall From Grace’ is a 2020 Netflix original drama/thriller by Tyler Perry. It follows the story of an older woman, Grace Waters (Crystal Fox), who recently divorced, falls in love with a younger man. Everything seems perfect until they get married and he turns from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. As things get worse and worse, she gets arrested and faces life in prison for the murder of her new husband. Her case depends on her more than green public defender Jasmine (Bresha Webb).

I’ve said before in the past Netflix keeps pumping original after original movie, I like that. I also like Tyler Perry’s work and the trailer is very intriguing, so it seems like a win. It features a pretty decent cast starring Crystal Fox (Driving Miss Daisy), Bresha Webb (Night School. Meet the Blacks), Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show), Mehcad Brooks (True Blood), and Tyler Perry.

Unfortunately that’s about as far as this movie goes. The story is great and hooks you in, and it has a great twist I didn’t see coming, but after the first half it just falls flat, and it falls hard. The acting isn’t really that good, it’s on the cheesy side. It stresses over and over how the public defender isn’t experienced, or that good. She doesn’t seem to care about her job, and it makes it not very believable, and you don’t really root for her. The more you think about the movie the more plot holes you can tend to come up with. It’s a great story that could have been executed better, again unfortunately it falls flat and is easily a forgettable movie. I give it a 5/10.

Get Santa

‘Get Santa’ is a British Christmas comedy from 2014 starring Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Kit Connor, and Wawrick Davis. I stumbled across this one while scrolling through Netflix. Only reason why I chose it was because of Wawrick Davis, he’s a legend in his own right. He’s the Leprechaun in the horror movie series, and has also stared in the Harry Potters and Star Wars franchises. I’ll watch his work anytime I get the chance.

Almost all Christmas movies are the same when boiled down, ‘Elf’, ‘The Santa Clause’, ‘The Christmas Chronicles’, and ‘Get Santa’. Santa gets in a bind, his slay crashes, grown ups don’t believe, Santa winds up in jail, and a kid who believes must save Christmas before it’s too late. All are essentially the same plot, just a different take on it. ‘Get Santa’ holds its own with all them. Acting is good, the movie flows well, the characters are lovable, it’s a Christmas classic in my book. I’ve decided to also start rating the movies on a scale 1-10 to give the readers a better idea how it stacks up. With all being said, ‘Get Santa’ is a 7/10. If you haven’t seen it, it is definitely worth watching this holiday season.

The Knight Before Christmas

This is another Netflix original, no surprise here, they’ve been pumping out movies left and right. This is another Christmas Rom-com. If you haven’t seen it previewed it’s about a teacher who doesn’t believe in true love, and has given up on finding her knight in shining armor. She accidentally hits a man with her car. She believes he is suffering amnesia from the hit because he is convinced he is a knight from the 14th century. With no where for him to go, she takes him in, in the spirit of Christmas. Little does she know he is a knight from the 14th century who is here on a quest, and he happens to be her knight in shining armor that she’s been looking for all along.

Not a big name cast here, it stars Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), Emmanuelle Chriqui ( You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Snow Day), and Josh Whitehouse (Poldark). Honestly I didn’t really care to see this movie, the previews looked cheesy and looked very Hallmark-esque. Even first little bit seemed like a Hallmark movie, but as it went on the more I enjoyed it. The acting is good, it’s funny, and puts a warm feeling in your heart. Josh Whitehouse nails the role as a knight from the 14th century, where you almost start to believe it yourself. Out of the three Christmas movies I’ve reviewed so far, this one is my favorite.

Let it Snow

‘Let it Snow’ is another Netflix original movie featuring a star studded young cast including Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Jacob Batalon (Spider-man Far from Home, Spider-man Homecoming), Odeya Rush (Goosebumps), Liv Hewson (Santa Clarita Diet), and the lone older actress Joan Cusack. ‘Let it Snow’ follows five different stories of high school students on Christmas Eve, whose town is hit with a snow storm. Each one is in a different place in their lives romantically speaking, and are just trying to figure it all out.

I typically don’t like romantic movies, and feel that November is too early to start the whole Christmas movie thing, but I really do like the cast and their shows/movies they have stared in. So i figured it was worth a shot anyway. This is not a real fast paced movie, it’s more of a chilled laid back type movie, focusing more on a couple of the stories and a little less on the other three. However, I liked it. The story isn’t very complex, and doesn’t go into depth, but the acting from these young actors, and actresses is good. They manage to keep the story entertaining. So if you’re looking for a more relaxed, laid back Christmas movie to start off the Christmas season, let it be ‘Let it Snow’.

Rattlesnake

‘Rattlesnake’ is an exclusive Netflix original. It’s about a woman and her daughter who are traveling through the desert when she suffers a flat tire. While changing the tire, the daughter suffers a rattlesnake bite. Panicked she looks around and sees a shack by itself, she rushes her daughter to the shack where a woman resides, the mysterious woman says she can save her daughter, and that she must still take her to a hospital. The woman tells the mother they can discuss payment later. The mother finds out the price of payment is a soul for a soul. Her daughters soul is spared, so the mother must take one in return, and she only has till sunset to do so.

‘Rattlesnake’ stars Carmen Ejogo (Fantastic Beasts), Emma Greenwell (Shameless), and Theo Rossi (SOA, Luke Cage). The acting is really good, especially Carmen Ejogo, she nails the frantic mother. I give Netflix a lot of credit for pumping out movie after movie, and I really love the story to this one. It’s a great storyline, and you can go a numerous amount of directions with it. At the end though I was hoping for more, especially with such a great storyline. It’s not a bad movie, but it’s not a great one either, it falls in the okay category, and at the end of the day it’s a forgettable one.

Head Count

I found this gem on Netflix. It’s a perfect movie in time for Halloween. ‘Head Count’ is about a group of four college couples and their single female friend who take a weekend trip out west for vacation while renting a secluded house. While out on one of their desert hikes and downtime on one of the peaks, they run into our main character Evan and his hippie brother Peyton. Evan is only in town for the weekend as well to visit Peyton, they have an estranged relationship, and Evan is more than happy to go with the couples and Zoe, the single female, back to their rented house for a weekend of partying. While sitting around the campfire they take turns telling scary stories from a website. When it’s Evan’s turn he reads off a rhyme about a spirit who if you say it’s name five times you end up summoning. All the kids laugh it off as a lame rhyme and continue their partying. The spirit is a shape shifter who takes the form of the different kids and can only kill in groups of five by making them commit suicide.

This movie is a little slow at first, but about half way through it takes off hard with the creepy factor and does not stop. I wouldn’t say it’s scary, but it is more of a psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat through out the movie. I loved it, it’s an Indy film with unknown actors and actresses, but they did and amazing job, and as I mentioned before it really nails the creepy factor. If you can get past the first twenty minuets setting up the film, it is worth the watch.

Secret Obsession

The plot of this movie reminds me a lot of the movie ‘the Perfect Guy’. An obsessed guy will do whatever it takes to win the heart of the girl he loves, including killing, great story line. Physcological thrillers are normally pretty good movies and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Difference between ‘the Perfect Guy’ and ‘Secret Obesession’ is ‘the Perfect Guy’ was good. Normally I wait till the end of my review to say whether it is good or not, or worth watching, but Netflix really missed the mark here. Netflix has been pushing this movie pretty hard, and don’t get me wrong most of their original content is great. Somewhere they missed it here, not sure if it was the writing or the casting decision but it just felt cheesey and forced. It seemed better suited for Lifetime instead of Netflix. Now if you haven’t seen the trailer or seen the movie it’s about a woman (Brenda Song, from Suite life of Zack and Cody) who suffers a head injury and forgets everything about her life. This gives this obsessed guy (Mike Vogel, creepy cop from Bates Motel) his chance to step into her life and convince her that he is her husband. Only problem is he isn’t, and he’s a physco. She soon realizes the danger she is in, while a cop (Dennis Haysbert, Allstate guy) battling his own demons is hot on Vogels trail. Again sounds good but not worth the watch.