Monday, March 29, 2021

(TV SERIES) The Irregulars Season 1 - A Unique Series About the Baker Street Irregulars from the Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This series was released on Netflix on Friday but I only watched it during the weekend as I have other movies I needed to complete first. This was one that I have been quite looking forward to ever since the trailer was shown few weeks ago. The premise seemed interesting and also involving one of my favorite detective character Sherlock Holmes. OK, why don't I just go right to it now.

Brief Story Line

In the streets of London during the Victorian period, a group of teenagers that consisted of Beatrice (Thaddea Graham - The Letter for the King TV series etc) with her younger sister Jessie (Darcy Shaw), their childhood friend Billy (Jojo Macari) and Spike (McKell David) were doing whatever they could to survive the harsh living condition. So when Dr. John Watson (Royce Pierreson) enlisted these teenagers' help to find out certain information in the other part of the town with the promise of cash compensation, Bea accepted it with little hesitation.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

(Early Screening) Roe V Wade - The Story Behind the Controversial Decision of the US Supreme Court

Few days ago I got an email providing me the chance to have early screening of this movie before it's officially released in the US theaters. I was intrigued by it as it was based on true story and starred some quite well known names. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Story was told from the point of view of Dr. Bernard Nathanson (Nick Loeb), a medical doctor who together with several others including his friend Lawrence Lader (Jamie Kennedy - Scream 2, Ghost Whisperer TV series) and feminist Betty Friedan (Lucy Davenport) formed abortion rights organization called NAFAR in 1969. Their aim was to ensure the woman's right of abortion legalized in the US. 

Friday, March 26, 2021

Secret Magic Control Agency - Light, Fun and Enjoyable Movie with Refreshing Take on a Classic Tale


As I just finished watching another series the other night and wanted to have something light before starting different series, I went through Netflix list of movies and stumbled across this one that happened to be newly released. It's a 3D animated movie with interesting premise and should be just perfect for what I was searching for. So let's move on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

Gretel (Sylvana Joyce) was an agent working for Secret Magic Control Agency (SMCA) which was responsible for ensuring magic was controlled and not being abused in the kingdom. When the King (Marc Thompson) was kidnapped, Gretel was assigned by SMCA leader Agent Stepmother (Georgette Reilly) to find out the truth.

Sunday, March 21, 2021

Deadly Illusions - Unsatisfying Psychological Thriller

During this weekend, there were not that many movies/series that I really looked forward to in various streaming platforms or cable TV. So I opted to watch this movie that was released on Thursday. The premise looked promising and the cast were quite well known to me. All right, I'll get started with it now.

Brief Story Line

Mary Morrison (Kristin Davis - Sex and the City TV series, Couples Retreat etc) was a best selling novel writer who was happily married with Tom (Dermot Mulroney - My Best Friend's Wedding, Insidious: Chapter 3 etc) and had twin children. When her publishers requested Mary to write a new novel, she hesitated as it would leave her children by themselves since she need to fully concentrate while writing. 

With the suggestion from her best friend Elaine (Shanola Hampton - Shameless TV series etc) to hire a caregiver from reputable firm, Mary finally get the one she felt immediate closeness, a young woman named Grace (Greer Grammer - Awkward TV series etc). Things seemed to be fine and good at first for Mary but when her imagination started to run wild, she began to doubt which was real and which was just illusion that could threaten her happy life.

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Yeah that was disappointing. At first I thought this would be like a suspenseful thriller with many surprising twists plus maybe a bit steamy like Fatal Attraction or The Babysitter (1995 version, not that fun 2017 Netflix movie). But this movie did not provide any thrills or suspense and the supposedly twist was neither surprising nor logical.

At first the story seemed OK with the introduction of the Morrison family, but it moved in a very slow pace that was a bit boring for my taste. I tried to be patient but not until half way through the movie that it started to have something interesting. At least the build up to the climax was not bad with a good enough way to reveal certain things. However the ending was disappointing and there was the very final scene which seemed to be done to confuse audience but unfortunately it just made me curse as there was no reason to do it at all.

The cast here did their job adequately with Kristin Davis tried her best to be this character, while Dermot Mulroney was pretty standard. Greer Grammer really suit the role of the sweet innocent Grace whereas Shanola Hampton was generally OK. There were no real stand out performance in this movie. Oh btw there were few love making scenes that were not the steamy type, which would explain why the film was not classified as erotic thriller (despite the trailer might have suggested otherwise).

I did not have anything against the writer & director of this movie Anna Elizabeth James whose prior works I have not seen, but I thought it could have been better by adding few scenes that would make us wonder during the middle part, or throwing out that very last scene or whatever. She did manage to write this herself as there was no mentioning of a book adaptation, so her creativity should at least be applauded. But anyway this was not the psychological thriller I was hoping to spend my time during the weekend.

So if you are OK with watching an almost 2 hours thriller that did not really deliver what the trailer promised, then you are welcome to do so. However, if you prefer a more enjoyable or critically acclaimed one, then this would not fit your wish. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Saturday, March 20, 2021

The Yinyang Master - A Fun and Quite Entertaining Adaptation of The Popular Mobile Game

I noticed this movie as it was promoted in Netflix and was scheduled to be released yesterday. It was a movie that raised my curiosity as it seemed to have similarities with another movie that was also distributed by Netflix and shown last month. And how was it then? Let's find out more, shall we?

Brief Story Line

Qing Ming (Chen Kun - Painted Skin, Chongqing Hot Pot etc) was a former member of bureau for capturing demons, but left due to incident which involved his senior brother Ci Mu (William Chan - Genghis Khan, L.O.R.D etc). Qing Ming was also regarded as a traitor by the bureau despite his very close relationship with the leader Bai Ni (Zhou Xun - The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, The Equation of Love and Death etc). 

Monday, March 15, 2021

(TV SERIES) The One Season 1 - A Thought Provoking Drama Series based on Best Selling Novel by John Marrs

This new series was released on Netflix few days ago, which quite intrigued me with its premise. To be honest I was a bit doubtful if it was too much drama, but then I read again the brief synopsis which hinted at a mystery. So I started watching this on Sunday and finished it in 1 day time. Well let's get to the good stuff then.

Brief Story Line

Rebecca Webb (Hannah Ware - Aftermath, Hitman: Agent 47 etc) has created a program called The One which has the ability to match a person with his/her one true love by using DNA. She created it together with her partner James (Dimitri Leonidas - Renegades, Riviera TV series etc) and got their investment from Tech mogul Damien Brown (Stephen Campbell Moore - The History Boys etc). Meanwhile a journalist named Mark Bailey (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) who was happily married with his wife Hannah (Lois Chimimba) would have strained relationship due to this DNA "matching". 

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Coming 2 America - An Inferior Sequel of the Fun and Hilarious 1988 Movie where Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall Excelled

Wanting to have some fun on my weekend, I moved my attention to this movie which I had read earlier and knew was the sequel of a 1988 funny film. I honestly could not remember whether I had seen that one before although I remember the premise. But just to make sure, I watched that one first which luckily was still available on another streaming platform. Anyway I'll just go ahead with this movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set around 30 years after the event of Coming to America, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy - Shrek movies, Beverly Hills Cop movies etc) celebrated his anniversary with Lisa (Shari Headley - The Preacher's Wife, Johnson Family Vacation etc) together with their 3 daughters Princess Meeka (Kiki Layne - The Old Guard etc), Omma (Bella Murphy) and Tinashey (Akiley Love). Akeem's aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall - Martial Law TV series etc) was still accompanying him.

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Yes Day - Light Indeed but not Heartfelt Enough as Family Movie

After rather tiring day at work, I was looking for some light movies and there was this one which was just released yesterday on Netflix and fit perfectly into that category. So without further hesitation, I immediately watch this film.

Brief Story Line

Allison (Jennifer Garner - Peppermint, 13 Going on 30 etc) and her husband Carlos Torres (Édgar Ramírez - The Undoing mini series, Point Break 2015 version etc) were previously fun people who were adventurous. However, when they started to have kids, they always said No to protect their 3 children, the 14 yr old Katie (Jenny Ortega - The Babysitter: Killer Queen, You TV series season 2 etc), Nando (Julian Lenner) and the youngest Ellie (Everly Carganilla).

Monday, March 8, 2021

Body Cam - A Not Bad but Not That Good Either Thriller Horror Movie

Still browsing through HBO Go, I noticed this film which I could not remember where I saw but I know it was pretty new. It was a 2020 released movie and intrigued me with its premise. OK I will get on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

During the time when police brutality was on the spotlight, a couple of police officers Renee (Mary J. Blige - The Umbrella Academy TV series, Mudbound etc) and her partner Danny (Nat Wolff - Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars etc) found the body of another police who was killed viciously. Renee noticed from the patrol car's camera of the possible suspect (played by Anika Noni Rose - Dream Girls,  Princess and the Frog etc), but since the detectives were unable to find proof, she tried to investigate by herself.

Sunday, March 7, 2021

The Enchanting Phantom - A Retelling of Classic Tale About Forbidden Love Between Human and Demon

After watching a disappointing movie on another streaming platform, I turned my attention to HBO Go as I had not the time to browse through its list for some time. To my surprise there was this Chinese movie which after some light reading on the internet, I found more information that made me immediately decided to watch it. And how was the movie? Let's find out shall we?

Brief Story Line

A young naive inexperienced scholar named Ning Caichen (Oliver Chen - The Legend of Condor Heroes 2017 version etc) was planning to go the capital for examination to be government official. Along the way he met a female ghost named Nie Xiaoqian (Eleanor Lee - Fake Princess TV series etc) who was tasked by her elder Lao Lao (Norman Chu - King of Beggars etc) to kill Caichen and absorb his vitality. But all her plan fell apart when both of them were attracted with one another. 

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Sentinelle - Another Disappointing Action Movie Starring Olga Kurylenko

There was a new movie that was released on Friday in Netflix which I had seen the trailer few times earlier and made me quite excited as the premise seemed to promise lots of action. So I gave this a try last night. OK without further ado, let's get into the film now.

Brief Story Line

Klara (Olga Kurylenko - Hold Your Breath, The November Man etc) a soldier who was part of Opération Sentinelle was sent back to her home town in Paris after a major incident in the post where she was stationed. Suffering from PTSD, Klara started to develop a bad habit which would influence her job.

(TV SERIES) Wandavision - A Unique & Interesting Mini Series to Kick Off MCU Phase 4

I originally wanted to wait till the series has completed before I watch the full show from first episode. But I just could not do so and opted to see the first 8 episodes last weekend and watched the finale last night. So now I could finally write my opinion of this series.

Brief Story Line

Set not long after the events of Avengers: End Game, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen - Wind River, Ingrid Goes West etc) and her husband Vision (Paul Bettany - Solo: A Star Wars Story, Wimbledon etc) were living in the suburb. However, in order to live their normal lives, Vision had to conceal his real face and worked in an office under his boss Mr. Hart (Fred Melamed - A Serious Man etc) whose wife Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp - That 70's Show TV series etc) was very friendly.

Friday, March 5, 2021

Monster Hunter - Entertaining Fantasy Movie for Pure Action Fans

This movie has been playing in Indonesian cinemas for a while but like in previous cases, my wife and I opted not to see them due to the pandemic. So it was quite a pleasant surprise when I got notification that Catchplay+ was going to have this movie on their platform starting from 4th of March. Anyway, I'm going to start with my views now.

Brief Story Line

A group of armies led by Lt. Artemis (Milla Jovovich - Hellboy 2019 version, Future World etc) which included several soldiers such as Lincoln (Tip "T.I" Harris - Ant-man and the Wasp etc), Marshall (Diego Boneta - Terminator: Dark Fate etc) and few others were trying to look for another unit who called for help earlier. But when they reached the destination, somehow they were transported to another world where big monsters exist and they had to fight for their lives.

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Moxie - A Teenager Feminist Movement Movie

It has been a very hectic past few days at work which resulted to me coming home late and did not have the time to watch films. But last night I did get the chance to watch a new teenage movie released on Netflix that I thought would be light enough. And how was the movie? I'll get into it now.

Brief Story Line

Vivian (Hadley Robinson - Utopia TV series etc) was just one of the common high school girl with introvert personality whose best friend Claudia (Lauren Tsai - Legion TV series etc) was equally introvert. But when Vivian met with a new student named Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Peña) who was confident and not afraid to go against football captain & bully Mitchell (Patrick Schwarzenegger - Midnight Sun, Echo Boomers etc), it opened her eyes that the school's being too receptive in the annual degrading "branding" on its female students.