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Peter, like most teenagers LOVES his bedroom so when his Grandpa (Robert De Niro) comes to stay he’s kicked to the curb, booted out of his room and moved into the family attic, not happy with this arrangement Peter decides to declare war in an attempt to win his room back : I really like filmmaker Tim Hill he’s has this knack of making me smile and his latest War with Grandpa is arguably his best work (that’s hell of a statement as I’m still a huge fan of Muppets from Space what a classic) : I know some people (boring farts maybe) would say that this type of movie is two a penny & predictable BUT when made well there’s nothing like a good old tug at your heart-strings and laugh till your sides ache family fun movie and War with Grandpa is certainly that : the humor is spot on especially when pitting young versus old, it’s not the story it’s the characters in the movie that win your hearts : the three oldies Robert De Niro’s Grandpa and his two mates Danny & Jerry played gamefully well by Cheech Marin & Christopher Walken are terrific and look in their elements having a good time being friends, kicking about in dodgeball with the kids and looking at young women’s backsides during their walk-about in the park, Walken especially is soooooo funny the faces he pulls is priceless : I also found Uma Thurman & Laura Marano totally awesome and so so watchable, the shenanigans between Mum, Daughter and Russell who plays the boyfriend had me laughing so much throughout : I also found the chemistry between De Niro’s Grandpa and Peter played by the gifted Oakes Fegley who also starred in the wonderful Pete’s Dragon remake back in 2016 to be the backbone of the movie, their screentime was full of hilarity and the lengths they would go to creating havok in their path and get revenge on the other was downright brilliant : also watching Peter’s life in school with his friends was a blast from the past and had me thinking back to my childhood that contained similar senario’s : Overall if your a fan of family comedy with a slice of nostalgia and the chance to watch De Niro & Walken reunite some old magic then WAR WITH GRANDPA is definately for you ★★★★

Although I think Daniel Craig has been one of our weaker 007’s I’ve still really enjoyed his gritty, mostly dark take on our favourite secret agent and NO TIME TO DIE could end up being his best outing yet…. Firstly it’s directed by True Detective helmer Cary Joji Fukunaga and yes he’s also the filmmaker who brought us the brilliant Beasts of No Nation, he’s accompanied by the super talent DP Linus Sandgren (La La Land & First Man) so as a spectacle the film is sure to look bloody awesome : No Time To Die also sees the return of Christoph Waltz as Blofeld and the delightful Léa Seydoux as Dr. Swann but for me the most interesting duo to be cast is Lashana Lynch who plays a female 00 agent that’s shrouded in a little bit of mystery and the gorgeous Ana de Armas who plays a character called Paloma….. are you excited yet? Well if your not then it may be worth mentioning that the main villain of No Time To Die will be played by Rami Malek and the legend that is Hans Zimmer will be providing the film score…. still not impressed? Well I’ve tried…. check out the action packed trailer below and then start a James Bond rewatch and countdown the days until the film hit’s your local theater….

The Batman (2021) Movie Trailer

Posted by absolutebadasses on August 23, 2020

Posted in: Trailers, Views. Tagged: alfred pennyworth, Batman, bruce wayne, cinema, Colin Farrell, DC comics, dc universe, dccomics, imax, 이용철, Jeffrey Wright, jim lee, like, love, love films, matt reeves, movie night, oswald cobblepot, Paul Dano, riddler, Robert Pattinson, selina kyle, the batman, warner bros, Zoë Kravitz. Leave a comment

Matt Reeves THE BATMAN will land October 2021 : loving the artwork by the incredible Jim Lee and this first teaser trailer just released has enough UMPH about it to make me sit up and take note : Reeves new movie promises to be very gritty & darker than his predecessors and talk about an inspired cast…. Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne aka: The Batman : Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon : Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth : Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle aka: Catwoman : Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot aka: Penguin and Paul Dano as Riddler : and that’s only a selection of it’s mouth watering cast : Hope you enjoy the trailer…. the countdown begins….

Ava (2020) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on August 22, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: ass kicking movies, assassin, ava movie, Colin Farrell, Common, film collector, film director, film fan, films, Geena Davis, hit woman, Ioan Gruffudd, Jess Weixler, Jessica Chastain, Joan Chen, John Malkovich, like, love, ma, movie, stephen goldblatt, Tate Taylor, the girl on the train, the help. Leave a comment

Ava is a deadly assassin working for a black ops organization, taking on high profile hits. When a job she’s given goes horribly wrong she is forced to fight for her own survival – Tate Taylor has sharpened his filmmaking skills with 2011’s THE HELP, 2016’s thriller THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN and last years horror MA so I was more than excited and slightly intrigued to see how he faired with his first foray into action films : having watched both movies in recent weeks I found AVA more enjoyable than The Old Guard (which I did enjoy) It’s just that AVA packed the sharper bite, the pace was better and the action scenes were gritty and uncomplicated with Stephen Goldblatt the DP contstantly working his magic with each shot : I also enjoy seeing an actor a little out of their comfort zone so watching Jessica Chastain take on this troubled assassin in a lead kick-ass action role was rather fun, of course Jess looked great and the role was certainly no stretch : AVA is packed with delicious fight scenes with Colin Farrell involved in more than one titantic tussle with the hotel room scene nearing the end of the movie one of my favourites : also there’s this terrific supporting cast with John Malkovich as Ava’s handler, Common (a little under used in my opinion) as the ex-boyfriend, Geena Davis and Jess Weixler as Ava’s mum & sister respectively and Ioan Gruffudd & Joan Chen in small but scene stealing roles : the film’s story follows a familiar path, betrayed assassin seeking justice (so there’s nothing new on that front) but if like me your a sucker for action movies that use less brain power, entertain with a fiesty lady holding the reigns to boot then Tate Taylor’s AVA won’t disappoint ★★★★

ps…. a little bit of trivia for you: the film and lead character was originally titled EVE but for some unknown reason the studio changed it to AVA

The Tax Collector (2020) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on August 9, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: Bobby Soto, Cheyenne Rae Hernandez, Cinthya Carmona, crime lord, david ayers, david ayers the tax collector, film, film blog, film fan, gangster, gangster movie, George Lopez, like, love, love films, mexican, movie geek, movies, Shia LaBeouf, the wizard. Leave a comment

THE TAX COLLECTOR is written & directed by Suicide Squad’s David Ayer and sees Bobby Soto & Shia LaBeouf’s enforcers collecting money for an LA crime boss known as The Wizard when things start getting ugly after a rival family want a piece of the action and eliminate the competition : I’ve been a big fan of David Ayer’s since he dropped Harsh Times back in 2005, his style of gritty no nonsence action is my jam, so why did I find myself struggling to connect with this his latest movie offering? : Well for starters the movie lacks any depth, you really don’t get the chance to like or dislike with a passion any of the main players as there’s no backstory, the only thing I took from the film’s early exchanges were that David (Soto) worships his family who live a good life and that’s pretty much it in a nutshell, even Creeper (LaBeouf) who from the offset seems to be an exciting prospect has no story, he’s a poorly written character that the director fails to utilise and capitilise on : I was a bit surprised by the quality of some of the scenes throughout the movie, the feel of which I get when watching a rap video, polished and forgettable and what’s with the dialogue being spoken so low? at times it was quite annoying : BUT nevertheless all is not lost The Tax Collector has some badass on show in the form of Cheyenne Rae Hernandez who plays the rival familes muscle and George Lopez in a small yet effective turn as Uncle Louis, I loved their performances and they certainly added much needed spice to the overall picture : Overall The Tax Collector is not a disaster, it’s certainly worth a watch and I’m confident it will make the studio a shit load of money but I can’t help but think the film was rushed and in my humble opinion a slight misfire from a filmmaker that has a lot more to offer ★★★

Movie Memories

Posted by absolutebadasses on August 8, 2020

Posted in: Views. Tagged: along came polly, Ben Stiller, ben stiller comedy, comedy, comedy gold, film fan, film geek, films, humor, john hamburg, like, love, movie blog, movie humor, movie love, movie website, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Leave a comment

Looking for a smile this weekend? then we got it covered…. Ben Stiller and the late GREAT Philip Seymour Hoffman sweating it out in 2004’s Along Came Polly from director John Hamburg – this particular scene has it all, it’s dialogue is crazy, the humor is gross-out at it’s most… well gross-out and it also showcases the brilliance of Hoffman in full flow, I still can’t believe he’s gone…. but take a load off and watch this 3 minute clip for a smile, a tear and at it’s finale a roaring belly laugh that may force you to dust off the dvd and watch the full thing 🙂

My Mount Rushmore of Film Directors

Posted by absolutebadasses on July 26, 2020

Posted in: Views. Tagged: bluray, cinema, cinephile, digital media, dvd, film, film actors, film addict, film directors, film website, filmmakers, follow, follow my blog, genre, hollywood, james cameron, like, love, martin scorsese, mount rushmore of film directors, movie blog, movie collection, movies, passion, photos, quentin tarantino, steven spielberg. Leave a comment

As you can tell from this movie blog or my social media feed I was born a Cinephile, I have this passion for all things film : I watch, collect and talk about the movies, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly things that I’m passionate about : My love stretches to every genre, from the western to scifi, from the 30s to modern day, Cagney to DiCaprio, Foster to Hepburn, Movies are my crush, my excitement and I’m at my happiest surrounded by them : Last year someone posted a question “What is your Mount Rushmore of Film Directors?” I know we all have different views on this and that’s more than fine, but for me the four filmmakers and their respective filmographies that have consistently made me tick, given me the goosebumps & excelled in their work are Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino & Martin Scorsese what’s yours?

Swallow (2020) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on July 24, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: actor, actress, Austin Stowell, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, cinephile, David Rasche, Denis O'Hare, directors, Elizabeth Marvel, film fan, film geek, films, Haley Bennett, like, love, movies, swallow, swallow 2020 movie, swallow banner, swallow movie, swallow review. Leave a comment

A young housewife in what seems to be a perfect marriage develops the irresistible urge to swallow objects and material – WOW just WOW Carlo Mirabella-Davis !! Swallow is a facinating directorial debut that gripped me from the getko, the energy that flows through Haley Bennett and into Hunter her onscreen persona is quite simply astonishing : When Hunter starts to Swallow my first impression was “Please don’t do that” I was angry, confused at why this young lady would do such a thing, why she would risk her life? But it got me thinking Hunter is trapped, innocent, has no friends or family and has nobody there to hug her close and tell her everything will be ok : If her lowlife controlling husband, bad inlaws and the swallowing wasn’t bad enough Hunter then decides to track down William a rapist from her past who’s played brilliantly by Denis O’Hare, their confrontation in William’s kitchen is so bloody TENSE I felt my heart pounding ready to burst out of my chest like something from Ridley’s Alien movie, such a simple, emotionally charged scene with these two brilliant actors nailing it : Overall Swallow is one of the darkest and most liberating movies of 2020, it’s a real thought provoking picture that will no doubt upset many, terrify others and quite simply blow the majority away with it’s raw, quirky style and captivating subject matter ★★★★½

Relic (2020) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on July 17, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: aussie movie, australian horror, Bella Heathcote, blog, Emily Mortimer, film blog, filmmaker, films, horror movie, instagram, like, love, movie blog, movie website, movies, Natalie Erika James, Natalie Erika James Relic, relic 2020, relic movie, Robyn Nevin. Leave a comment

A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family’s home – RELIC directed by first timer Natalie Erika James is an Aussie horror that really does effect the way you look at the difficulties of coping with family illness as you watch Emily Mortimer’s character Kay attempt to unravel her mother’s dementia whilst trying to survive the advances of their spooky family home : Along with it’s real scary moments such as Bella Heathcote’s character Sam stuck in the walls of the house in a frighteningly unreal 20mins and the overall creaks and groans the house is making throughout I really found Relic to be like watching a family member grow old, slowly becoming frail, starting to loose their faculties & climbing the ladder towards eventual inevitability, the scariest thing imaginable and Natalie Erika James captures this perfectly with her meaningful, alarming slow burner of a horror movie that makes you think and contains one of the strangest yet genius finale’s in many a year ★★★★

The Severed Arm (1973) – Classic Rewatch

Posted by absolutebadasses on July 16, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: 70s, 70s horror movie, Angus Scrimm, b-movie, Deborah Walley, director, filmmaker, films, horror movie, John Crawford, like, love, movies, Paul Carr, scary movie, slasher, slasher horror, the severed arm, the severed arm movie, Tom Alderman. Leave a comment

Trapped in a cave, five men cut the arm off of another companion in order to ward off starvation. After they are saved, their victim seeks revenge on them one by one – THE SEVERED ARM is quite the rarity a 70s slasher movie that I had not seen or heard about until yesterday – Directed by Tom Alderman who’s short filmmaking career ended with this movie, and a cast including John Crawford, Paul Carr and the delightful Deborah Walley (1960’s Gidget Goes Hawaiian) – WOW !! what an incredibly atmospheric slasher, that contains some moody inventive camera work, a screamingly good synth score and a whole bunch of gruesome gore scenes (especially that severed arm moment later in the movie), I really enjoyed Walley’s turn as Ted’s daughter Teddy, as an actress her face lent to 70s slasher so well and I’m surprised she didn’t do more in the genre, also I loved the twist in the movie’s finale albeit a little predictable but it is well executed – If like me you love visiting these wildly odd B-Movie style slasher movies with a side plate of revenge and gory fun then The Severed Arm is worth the watch ★★★★

Here’s 3 great Behind the Scene shots from 1968’s Once Upon a Time in the West – Directed by Sergio Leone and stars : Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards & Woody Strode : A mysterious stranger with a harmonica teams up with a notorious gunslinger to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad in the old west : The late great Ennio Morricone composed the musical score and it’s one his finest in my opinion.

Trespass (1992) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on July 4, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: art evans, back to the future, Bill Paxton, bob gale, de'voreaux white, film blog, film rewatch, gang warefare, ICE CUBE, ICE T, like, love, movie poster, photos, robert zemeckis, treasure hunt, Trespass 1992, Trespass movie, walter hill, William Sadler. Leave a comment

Revisited one of Walter Hill’s lesser known movies 1992’s TRESPASS – made for $14 Million and written by the Back to the Future pair of Gale & Zemeckis – I absolutley loved the film’s pace, it’s raw & gritty premise but most of all I LOVED watching Bill Paxton & William Sadler going to work against the ICE duo of Cube & T – the film is set in a deserted warehouse and is somewhat a treasure hunt mixed with a bit of gang warfare, it’s pretty relentless and a bit of Die Hard reunion with the already mentioned William Sadler (Colonel Stuart in Die Hard 2), De’voreaux White (the Limo driver from the first movie) and the wonderful Art Evans (the air traffic controller in Die Hard’s sequel) all of course contribute highly to the movie’s overall story – So if like me you love Walter Hill and his style of no-nonsense filmmaking or you just want to reminisce in the presence of the great and much missed Bill Paxton then Trespass is for you ★★★★

Becky (2020) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on June 15, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: amanda brugel, becky, becky movie, Cary Murnion, cinema, dark comedy horror, film blog, film geek, film review, films, home invasion films, home invastion, horror, horror movies, joel mchale, Jonathan Milott, kevin james, like, love, love films, love movies, lulu wilson, lulu wilson horror icon, movie, movie website, photo, poster, scary films. Leave a comment

A teenager’s weekend at home with her dad takes a turn for the worse when a group of escaped convicts decide to interupt their plans – From the fab duo of Milott & Murnion who in 2014 gave us the insanely good Cooties comes their new horror picture BECKY a home invasion movie that will no doubt upset someone, somewhere at somepoint – There is no question that this film is the darkest of the the duo’s three movies to date, you get a nasty performance by Kevin James who plays a neo-nazi convict, some blood thirsty Home Alone style action scenes that’s not for the faint hearted, a real eye-catching moment during the film’s second half and the star of the show Lulu Wilson who is quite simply wonderful playing Becky this teenage girl who’s loss of her mother has hardened her mentally and given her this moody chip on her shoulder that serves her well in trying to survive – My only criticism is that the film runtime could have been slightly longer to allow a bit more characterization which would have helped explain Becky’s relationship or lack of with her father Jeff played by Joel Mchale BUT nevertheless the film is a credit to Milott & Murnion a real heart-stopper, a violent exciting horror thriller that I will no doubt revisit again and again ★★★★

Four African-American vets return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their friend and fallen Squad Leader and the gold he helped them hide – Back in 2013 after watching the Oldboy remake I honestly thought the great Spike Lee maybe past it, possibly spent as a filmmaker and only to be reveared for past glories…. In 2018 he delivered one of the best movies of that year in BlacKkKlansman and today in his first outing with Netflix Spike Lee has once again rolled back the years…. DA 5 BLOODS is not only an exceptional picture but it’s a timely history lesson that’s high on emotion, tense as a butt cheek in a landmine, a riverting adventure romp and one of Lee’s more violent and ambitious movie Joints to date – Rather than the deaging of actors (like Scorsese did in The Irishman) Spike Lee decided on a different and in my opinion more refreshing approach seeing the old guard play their younger selves in the film’s flashbacks which helped the film’s narrative and was exciting to watch, the music from the grand master Marvin Gaye, the message throughout of Love over Hate and shooting on location in Vietnam gave Da 5 Bloods it’s heartbeat…. and did I mention Delroy “Mother Fucking” Lindo in his fourth collaboration with Lee and in my opinion his best, Lindo’s character Paul is an all kinds of messed up, racist war vet that harbor’s a secret, his performance reminds me of Bogey in Sierra Madre as you watch his character slowly unravel in quite a devistating way – Overall there can be no doubt Spike Lee is back making film’s that connect with it’s audience in an entertaining, shocking yet relevant way ★★★★½

Based on Peter Carey’s novel about the story of Australian Outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang of misfits as they tangle with the local fuzz during the 1870s – TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG is Justin Kurzel’s 4th feature film and from start to finish the film is harrowing stuff with it’s violence, harshness of the times depicted in brutal fashion by the Aussie filmmaker who broke onto the scene with his raw yet brilliant debut Snowtown back in 2011 – George MacKay, Russell Crowe and Orlando Schwerdt are terrific in the movie as is Charlie Hunnam and Nicholas Hoult both adding some menace to proceedings, and is there a better Aussie actress than Essie Davis at the moment? a totally committed, ballsey actress that has such a screen presense as she commits to her role 120% – Some of the movie was shot in the Winton Wetlands which I found such a perfect location lending to the movies haunting, barren yet majestic landscape – Kurzel’s movie is certainly not everybody’s cup of tea but it was mine and I would recommend the True History of The Kelly Gang to anyone who loves movies, I just hope it gets the exposure it deserves ★★★★