absolutebadasses

February 14th : 2019

DARK PHOENIX : Simon Kinberg
Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender & Jennifer Lawrence

So with giddy excitment I’m pleased to say that the X-Men will return to the big screen early next year in what promises to be a mind blowing start to a new trilogy of films starting with Dark Phoenix the compelling story of Jean Grey played by the Games of Thrones actress Sophie Turner and judging by this trailer I have now watched several times Kinberg’s movie could eclipse all the X-Men movies that have come before it……

This is Simon Kinberg’s directorial debut with his storyline centered around “The Dark Phoenix Saga” written by Cockrum, Byrne & Claremont and not only does Dark Phoenix look dark, gritty and packed full of emotion but the casting of Jean Grey look spot on with Turner looking made for this role – There’s a storm approaching where friendships will fall, trust will be broken and team X-Men will be tested like never before – Dark Phoenix is already high on my list of most anticipated movies of 2019 and this trailer excites me to the point of wanting to watch all previous movies featuring these cool as hell mutants – Hope you enjoy the trailer and three new stills below !!

THE PREDATOR : Shane Black
Boyd Holbrook, Sterling K Brown, Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes & Jacob Tremblay

In 1987 John McTiernan and Arnold Schwarzenegger joined forces to deliver one of the films of the decade Predator – the film is not only an effective action movie but it drips with suspense, has likeable characters that you actuals care for and most importantly it’s a well shot, humorous scifi that actually delivers for it’s audience – so when it was announced that Shane Black (Hawkins from the original movie) was actually shooting a new film I was pretty sceptical, but as the cast was announced and a few stills dropped I actual thought ummmmm this could actually work – sadly after just watching the movie on the big screen I can honestly say what a nauseating, unbelievably bad Predator movie Shane Black has given us, it’s so bad that I can’t even remember how half the protagonists met their demise (and that was like 20mins ago) – sadly you can’t dress the movie up with some of the original iconic score and then give us a horrible story including a laughable 11ft Predator and his pack hounds, bad almost comical at times acting and that includes the usually reliable Sterling K Brown who should stay well away from villainous roles as he gives a stinker, some mediocre CGI (and for an $80 million budget there’s no excuse) and a whole bunch of unlikeable throwaway characters – Overall Shane Black’s The Predator is one ugly mother-f@cker of a movie and one that I don’t expect to revisit ★★½

The Nun (2018) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on September 10, 2018

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: cinema, conjuring, Corin Hardy, Demián Bichir and Jonas Bloquet, film blog, films, horro fan, horror, horror movies, horror night, movie website, nun, romania, scary movies, Taissa Farmiga, the conjuring, the nun. Leave a comment

THE NUN : Corin Hardy
Taissa Farmiga, Demián Bichir and Jonas Bloquet

I loved 2015’s The Hallow a low budget Irish Horror by Corin Hardy that was both atmospheric and superbly shot and I have recently spoken of my admiration for James Wan and his effective, simply terryfying Conjuring movies so of course when I heard Hardy was taking the reigns for a new movie set in The Conjuring universe I was pulse racing, mouth dribbling excited………… Sadly that excitment ended after recently watching Hardy’s The Nun a film that fails to live up to to the scares of it’s predecessors, no bold, darkly written storyline, almost rushed in the making, a film that felt like a corny version of Hammer House of Horror, that’s not to say the film totally sucked it just needed to be much darker and less predictable – due to it’s small budget there’s no doubt the film will make money at the box office but being a fan of the series and a horror geek in general I was left overall very disappointed ★★★

Burt Reynolds (1936 – 2018)

Posted by absolutebadasses on September 6, 2018

Posted in: Views. Tagged: bandit, boogie nights, burt reynolds, burt reynolds movie star, Deliverance, film fan, films, follow, follow me, hollywood, movie star, RIP BURT, rip burt reynolds, Sharky's Machine, Smokey and the Bandit, The Cannonball Run, The Longest Yard. Leave a comment

Terribly Sad News the Film world has lost another of it’s shining stars – BURT REYNOLDS the star of such endearing classics such as Smokey and the Bandit, The Cannonball Run, The Longest Yard, Sharky’s Machine and City Heat has died aged 82 – Burt also gave career defining performances in movies such as Deliverance, Boogie Nights and more recently The Last Movie Star and had just signed up to star in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Growing up I fondly remember him as this charasmatic, cocky but big hearted action hero, that great big smile shining from ear to ear and that twinkle in his eye…. he’s had one hell of a journey and appeared to enjoy every minute of it – goodbye for now Burt – RIP

BLACKkKLANSMAN : Spike Lee
John David Washington, Laura Harrier, Adam Driver, Jasper Pääkkönen

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen the best of Spike Lee and to be honest I really thought after that poor Oldboy remake he was on the decline, maybe putting one foot in retirement and joining some of the great filmmakers that now churn out average films for the masses failing to live up to their past glory’s, but after watching his latest in a pretty full cinema I can honestly say with a glint in my eye that Spike Lee is far from over – BlacKkKlansman is not only one of the most powerful movies of the year it’s also in my opinion Spike Lee’s greatest achievment in film with stand out performances from Laura Harrier, John David Washington & Adam Driver, an incredible score that sucks you into 1979 Colorado, some frightening obsenities shouted by Alec Baldwin’s character that sets the overal tone of the movie, some exhilarating camera work by Chayse Irvin and one helluva creepy performance from Jasper Pääkkönen – oh yeah and not forgetting that Corey Hawkins speech his delivery will stand your hair on end WOW – BlacKkKlansman is an unbelievable story, it has more humor than I expected and it’s last 20mins is a punch to the gut – SEE it on the BIG screen you won’t be disappointed ★★★★½

SUMMER OF 84 : François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell
Tiera Skovbye, Rich Sommer, Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Gruter-Andrew

Didn’t know a great deal about Summer of 84 until I watched it and WOW now I wana watch it again and come on guys get a sequel rolling – Young kids riding bikes, walkie talkies, insane atmospheric soundtrack and nonstop 80’s nostalga dripping from each scene like a personal trip down memory- lane this movie has the lot and is so much fun to watch – I mean what can I say about the kids in the movie apart from HOLY SHIT you guys rock every SINGLE scene, Tiera Skovbye is a fabulous young actresses and as CUTE as a button playing the kids crush Nikki and what about Mad Men’s Rich Sommer isn’t he just perfect as the creepy neighbor – I really did enjoy this movie so much and as for those last 20 minutes… sheeeeet me what a brilliant dark turn it all takes, my finger nails took a battering and now I’m looking a little more closely at those around me – SUPERB MOVIE ★★★★

Breath (2018) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on August 25, 2018

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: aussie movie, australia, Ben Spence, breath poster, breath review, Elizabeth Debicki, film nerd, film thoughts, films, love movies, movie, movie geek, movie review, Sam Coulter, screen australia, Simon Baker, surfing, tim winston, tim winston breath. Leave a comment

BREATH : Simon Baker
Sam Coulter, Ben Spence, Elizabeth Debicki, Simon Baker

I’ve not read Tim Winston’s novel BREATH that was published in 2008 but have just seen it’s film adaption by debut director Simon Baker and it’s an absolute peach, a slow burning coming-of-age surfing movie set in 70s Australia where two friends Pikelet & Loonie discover a thrill seeking adventure amongst the waves – Samson Coulter & Ben Spence give wonderful performances as the two lads, the chemistry between them gives authenticity to their friendship and the fact that both lads are top surfer’s in real life helps enormously – along with the boys surfing & interaction with Simon Baker’s character Sando who’s a retired ex-surfing champ I really enjoyed the scenes between Coulter’s Pikelet & Eva played by the incredibly gifted Elizabeth Debicki these scenes are gorgeous and handled superbly – I must also mention the photography and especially the water sequences in the movie that are simply stunning and quite breathtaking to watch – If you’d like to watch a movie with no green screen, raw acting talent and a lovely story about friendship & adventure then Simon Baker’s Breath is for you – An Aussie Gem from start to finish ★★★★½

Rosy (2018) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on August 15, 2018

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: acting, beautiful, female, film collector, film geek, film ned, film poster, films, geek, indie films, indie movie, indie pictures, indie stars, jess manafort, kidnap, movie, movie blog, movie fan, movies, original script, out now, rosy, rosy film review, rosy movie, rosy review, script, stacy martin, stars. Leave a comment

ROSY : Jess Manafort
Stacy Martin, Nat Wolff, Johnny Knoxville & Tony Shaloub

Interestingly ROSY came totally out of the blue having not seen a poster or watched a trailer and sometimes these little things make a movie more fun and certainly more interesting (not knowing what is coming) – So without spoiling things Jess Manafort’s directorial debut is pretty bizzare yet it somehow manages to captivate, from it’s haunting score that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Woody Allen pic to it’s slow burning narative and wonderful performances from it’s cast – Nat Wolff gives a career besty playing Doug a guy with a few bolts loose who lives on his own but he has a plan and this plan involves Rosy an aspiring young actress played by the wonderful Stacy Martin who gives a GIGANTIC performance that’s sexy, funny and downright crazy – Rosy’s coming together with Doug is alarming, yet by the end of the film you start to think that there’s some chemistry between them (well I did anyhow), everything about the films premise is not quite right but somehow it works and it’s filmmaker Jess Manafort deserves the plaudits for not only her direction but for an exciting, original script – absolutley superb ★★★★

ANT-MAN and THE WASP : Peyton Reed
Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena

Like most I’ve been a huge fan of Evangeline Lilly since Lost back in 2004 (shit !! is it really that long) and she absolutley nails it as The Wasp in Peyton Reed’s hilarious action packed sequel Ant-Man and The Wasp her action scenes, chemistry with Rudd’s Ant-Man and Daddy Douglas is perfection and I will be first to shout the loudest for a Wasp stand-alone movie – it was ALSO rad seeing the exciting Hannah John-Kamen play Ava aka: Ghost in what is an awesome twist on the comic books & one that works so well – And what about ANTonioBanderas damn I nearly fell off my seat laughing – Overall this sequel may not be quite as good as the first film but it comes bloody close, it’s pace at times is breathtaking, Paul Rudd combines everyday dad with superhero wonderfully well and once again surprises with his timing during the action pieces, in fairness he’s brilliant – the films overall look & CGI is stunning, the effects are like a mixture of Men in Black and Honey I Shrunk the Kids except TEN TIMES better SO if you love comicbook movies or just fancy 2hrs of pure entertainment then don’t wait for it’s bluray release (you know where the cinema is) ★★★★

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT : Christopher McQuarrie
Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames & Henry Cavill

HOLY HELL now that’s what I call an action movie – this is not only the third movie directed by McQuarrie that stars Cruise but it’s also their best work together – I loved every single second of this exciting thrill ride, full of the most insane stunts, car chases that make Bullit and The French Connection look amateur and a storyline that’s easily the best of the Mission Impossible franchise – along with Cruise’s Ethan Hunt we get more screentime for Benji and Luther and Fallout also sees the return of Ilsa Faust played by the exciting, beautiful and totally badass Rebecca Ferguson, but one of the highlights of this sixth installment has to be the injection of Henry Cavill who plays CIA operative August Walker an insane assassin and a bloody good one at that, amongst his best scenes in the movie is that most talked about bathroom brawl and I SHIT YOU NOT this has to be one of the best in the history of cinematic bathroom brawls IT’S BONE CRUNCHING AWESOME – along with Cruise’s energy and them incredible stunts he pulls off the guy is so infectious, his teenage-like smile and passion for what he does comes across on the screen and he’s an absolute joy to watch, and in Ethan Hunt he’s built in my opinion the greatest spy franchise there is, consisently great in every department – Overall Mission Impossible: Fallout IS A MUST WATCH on the Biggest and Baddest screen you can find, load your guns with popcorn & a beverage and get ready to be WOWED ★★★★½

Hotel Artemis (2018) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on July 22, 2018

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: blog, cinema, criminal, Dave Bautista, Drew Pearce, film blog, film geek, film night, follow, hotel artemis, hotel artemis movie, hotel artemis review, jodie foster, like, love, love films, movie nerd, movie review, movie trailer, movie website, poster, sofia boutella, Sterling K Brown. Leave a comment

HOTEL ARTEMIS : Drew Pearce
Jodie Foster, Sterling K Brown, Sofia Boutella, Dave Bautista

Had an absolute blast watching Drew Pearce’s directorial debut Hotel Artemis – if I’m honest it’s a movie that went right under my radar but I’m so glad I caught up with it on the big screen – would you believe it’s been 5yrs since the legend Jodie Foster graced our screens with Elysium so watching this legend of our screens trade acting blows with Sterling K. Brown & Dave Bautista in this futuristic setting is worth more than double the ticket price – Pearce’s first attempt behind the camera follows writing work on Iron Man 3 and MI : Rogue Nation so he’s no beginner when it comes to classy, stylish story arcs with intriguing characters and some insane action thrown in – Hotel Artemis combines the lot, it has a great story at it’s core, a devilishly good ensemble, sublime cinematography and is executed better than most – don’t miss this one ★★★★

In 2000 came in my opinion the greatest ‎M. Night Shyamalan movie UNBREAKABLE a true masterpiece in it’s genre with great performances by Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson – 16yrs later Shyamalan came at us with a mind twister of a movie SPLIT that was linked to the Unbreakable universe and was pretty darn epic with James McAvoy going all batshit crazy on our asses – looking forward to 2019 both films will merge into GLASS and judging by the trailer below this promises to be the best yet.

I FEEL PRETTY : Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein
Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Busy Phillips

Actress Amy Schumer is always a delight to watch, she’s bubbly, nice to look at, has comic timing and always without fail makes me smile – I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything she’s done and this is no exception. The scene’s Amy shares with the amazing Michelle Williams are hilarious, Michelle stealing every scene playing cosmetics boss Lily LeClaire, her accent is adorable & her facial expressions a wonder to watch – Kohn & Silverstein known primarily for their writing work on films such as Never Been Kissed, The Vow and Valentine’s Day do a great job with their first directorial gig – I Feel Pretty is a let your hair down style of movie that makes you feel good and quite simply it’s lot’s of fun to watch ★★★½

TAU: Federico D’Alessandro
Maika Monroe, Ed Skrein & Gary Oldman

Federico D’Alessandro’s TAU reminded me of an extended Black Mirror episode, it’s dark & utterly bonkers, wildly futuristic & pretty darn clever and along with Gary Oldman’s sublime vocals & Ed Skrein’s creepy creator we have Maika Monroe one of the hottest (by that I mean talented and gorgeous) young actresses around – need I say more ★★★★

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO: Steffano Sollima
Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner

Taylor Sheridan is an average actor but he’s an incredible writer and his Sicario followup is a solid no-nonsense sequel that’s pretty intense – Let’s be fair any movie that’s required to follow Villeneuve’s 2015 original is on a hiding to nothing YET Day of the Soldado comes out punching, it really is a better than average thriller with Del Toro and Brolin firing on all cylinders – like Villeneuve’s thriller Steffano Sollima’s Sicario fills you with a sense of unease, the drug world is not a place for the squeamish, that haunting, pounding background beat is only matched by the stunning cinematography by the Polish Master Dariusz Wolski who captures the films scary landscape with frightening realism – Sicario: Day of the Soldado is great movie watching and well worth watching on the big screen so GO buy a ticket !! ★★★★

Solo (2018) – Movie Trailer

Posted by absolutebadasses on April 9, 2018

Posted in: Trailers. Tagged: Alden Ehrenreich, chewbacca, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, film nerd, films, han solo, movie blog, movies, pictures, ron howard, solo, solo a star wars movie trailer, solo a star wars story, solo trailer, star wars, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson. Leave a comment

Since the great Ron Howard (Cocoon & Apollo 13) took over the reigns for SOLO: A Star Wars Story my excitement for the movie has been slowly building to a crescendo, and now having just watched the trailer 3 times on the spin I can honestly say has the makings of a great Star Wars movie and it could possibly challenge Rogue One and be the best of the new bunch of movies set around the Star Wars Universe – the film stars Alden Ehrenreich as a young Hans Solo and follows his early adventures with his Wookiee partner Chewbacca as they fight, fly and talk their way out of many a tight spot in the galaxy – the film also stars Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton and Paul Bettany and hits our screens at the end of May – take a peek at this trailer…. it looks a blast !!

the wait is now over !! After much anticipation I have now seen Steven Spielberg’s big screen adaption of Ernest Cline’s scifi novel Ready Player One at the cinema and as the end credits came up my very first thoughts were….

WOW as a movie experience I LOVED IT – it’s a classic Spielberg picture, totally immersive, ridiculously fun and jam packed full of endless movie references that will make your face beam like a kid at Christmas – the movies eye popping visuals, heart thumping audio and buckle your seat style of action is energising with a whole bunch of animation/real world cross over scenes that are utterly bonkers – along with the chest bursting scene that had me in tears and every bit of DeLorean screen time I have to say the best part of the movie is The Shining segment it’s quite something, the attention to detail is sublime and without giving too much away it’s so much fun….

The one thing that really does rankle me about the movie is WHY did Ernest Cline participate in changing so much of his beloved slice of escapism when adapting Ready Player One to film? For me it’s a crazy thing to do and I can totally understand die-hard fans of his novel being unhappy at the film’s outcome – the characters back story, how they all met, the quests in the Oasis are all played out differently, so there’s no easy way to say this except that Ernest Cline sold his soul to those in Hollywood when he should have stood firm at least with the core of his creation…. Nevertheless when all is said and done we all go the cinema to be entertained and Steven Spielberg has once again demonstrated his greatness in delivering a magical, enthralling movie going experience – Ready Player One requires urgent big screen attention…. put on your 3D goggles the Oasis awaits ★★★★

Sometimes you just need to stop dissecting a movie and have fun, let the action and mood of the picture take you on a ride into the impossible and the unimaginable and Roar Uthaug’s TOMB RAIDER is one of them such movies – I like many grew up playing the games and being slightly fixated on Lara Croft this sexy gun tooting computer icon who kicked ass and went on wild adventures solving puzzles on these epic treasure hunts, I even enjoyed the 2001 & 2003 movies that starred a young Angeline Jolie but this latest adaption an origin story starring Alicia Vikander in the title role surpassed my expectations I really did leave my critical side at the door and allowed myself to thoroughly enjoy the film – Vikander totally embodies the character from the games, she’s athletic, clever and she doesn’t give up easily – from the Hong Kong chase scene to the booby traps in the underground tomb, the foxy bike race to the Islands River Rapids Tomb Raider runs at a breakneck pace it really is electric and if you’ve played the games then you will smile and enjoy the scenarios that Lara finds herself in – other high five aspects of the movie include a terrific antagonist played by the fiery, downright cool Walton Goggins, Into the Badlands Daniel Wu who looks to be having fun playing a drunken sailor and kick ass side-kick to Lara and another well rounded performance from the underrated Dominic West who plays Lara’s dad Richard – Overall Tomb Raider is one wickid action movie, leave all your troubles at home and let Alicia’s Lara Croft take you an adventure of a lifetime – this is popcorn munching cinema at it’s finest ★★★★